Life Through A Different Color
by calladragon
Summary: Life after a quest is done.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm still around. Unfortunately, I've been distracted by RL since mid-August. That's when I accepted a job where I have to meet a quota to keep said job. Being the first time I've worked in such a situation, the stress wreaked havoc with my Muse. I completed my first review a couple of days ago and did fine so things are evening out on the work front.

The next thing wreaking havoc with my Muse is how fast Heller & Co. decided to wrap up the whole Red John Arc. Not that I have a problem with how things were done. It just sent Musie skittering for the hills never to be found again. As for the change of circumstances, I find them interesting and exciting on a lot of levels. Interesting enough I'm ready to try my hand at writing a different kind of AU in this new CU.

As for the unfinished stories I recently put on Hiatus, it isn't that I can't finish them or that I'm not interested in finishing them. I don't have a problem writing extreme Alternate Universe. I never have.

It's more a question of why would _you _be interested in reading more of Darkness into Light, After He's Gone, or Passing the Point of No Return since the show has headed in a totally different direction these stories clearly can't go in? ~Calla

******#**

Carrying her cup of coffee to her desk, Lisbon slid into her chair. Staring at the open file she'd left a few minutes ago, she wasn't sure whether she was grateful to write "closed" across another case or embarrassed her latest culprit was a chicken thief. Who stole chickens in this day and age? _Pet_ chickens at that. The up side to the embarrassing situation was Carmine was more interested in eating eggs than poultry so all six hens had been returned to their rightful owner none the worse for wear. She still wasn't sure what the fool thought he was doing. He hadn't explained that one yet.

Sighing, she resisted the urge to beat her head on her desk. Exactly why had she taken this job again? Oh, yeah, because while the CBI had gone the way of the wind, she still needed food on the table and a roof over her head. It made sense now.

Once the storm cleared, she'd found herself jobless and clueless what to do next. Fortunately, she'd not ended up in a cell which seemed likely for a while until she was cleared of all charges instead. They all were except Jane. Not that there was anything unexpected about that. He _had_ killed a man. While having her freedom was well and good, she'd been left at loose ends with no way to support herself and no real hope for the future. She'd never really been anything but law enforcement. It was a good thing she'd had a substantial next egg to tide her over the lean months she'd spent job hunting.

For a while no one was willing to touch her. They wouldn't let her get a foot in the door. It seemed the stench of the CBI's scandalous demise still oozed from her pores. She hadn't really blamed anyone. Between Bertram and Jane and their many Press Conferences, her name was intricately entwined with a certain corrupt Law Enforcement Agency. Added to that was the whole Red John mess and how it finally ended. Not that she thought John Q. Public really cared Jane choked the life out of a vicious serial killer. They didn't. Unfortunately, the people most likely to hire her felt differently.

To her relief, she'd eventually stumbled into a promising position four months into her exile. So what if it was in Washington State? She needed a job. This was a good one and they were actually willing to interview her before giving her the boot. Besides, beggars couldn't be choosers and, while she wasn't quite at the begging stage, she'd already made a significant dent in her savings. Considering it had taken two more months of interviews and discussions to reel the position in, she'd made an even bigger dent before she was done.

Fortunately, the "town fathers" of this quaint, podunk town had decided to applaud her twenty years of dedicated service rather than dwell on the rough spots. They'd realized most, if not all, of her "indiscretions" were Jane related and chosen to overlook them for the most part. The man was clearly out of her life. He had been for a while. Given the charges awaiting him, he wasn't stupid enough to come back so there was little danger from that quarter.

While she'd never responded to their assumptions one way or the other, she hadn't corrected their thinking either. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Jane was thousands of miles away and she wasn't about to rock the boat. Her potential employers were willing to pay a great deal more than other towns of comparable size to snag a candidate with her field experience. She was willing to seriously consider their offer.

With her wealth of experience and education, Lisbon had known she was more than capable of fulfilling their needs. The town fathers seemed to feel the same. She'd read their thoughts on their faces. They'd taken one look at her and her credentials and seen a major political coup in bringing her on board. She was tough, tiny, good looking, and undeniably _female_ all of which would play well to their significant younger, more progressive, voter base. All in all, she'd been an ideal candidate for Chief of Police.

One they were more than willing to take a chance on. As long as she did a reasonably competent job, which from all appearances she would, they were all shoe-ins for another term. It was a clear win-win for everyone.

To ensure their most viable contender remained enrolled in the program, the powers that be had upped the ante. They'd offered her a much higher salary than stated in their ad and more than they'd offered any other candidate to seal the deal. Enough to make her eyes water. Realizing she wouldn't get a better proposal and knowing she could handle anything this place threw at her, she'd gladly signed on the dotted line. It didn't hurt the benefits package wasn't anything to sneeze at either.

Eighteen months later Lisbon gladly admitted she loved her new home and her life for the most part. In fact, she'd almost convinced herself to drink the Kool-Aid on this one. Almost believed she was happier than she'd been in a very long time…Maybe ever…Almost, but not quite….

She did love getting home at a decent hour. She loved the people she worked with. She even loved that her life was more normal than not. Oh, and she loved that there were no serial killers or insane conspiracies breathing down her neck the most. That she now had time for a social life and had even managed to carry on a pretty hot and heavy romantic relationship for a few months was icing on the cake.

Shoving the closed file in her desk drawer, Lisbon admitted on the negative side she was bored out of her mind. She hadn't expected that to happen. It kind of snuck up on her. She'd figured the dreaded paperwork would fill her down time. Unfortunately, she hadn't expected to have quite so much of it. She was wrong. She had _alot_ of down time.

Added to the inactivity, she missed her old team and she missed Jane. She missed them badly. _Him_ most of all but she wasn't dwelling on that. Right, like a day passed she didn't think about Jane entirely too much. He occupied more of her thoughts now than he had when they'd worked together. She wondered what was happening with Abbott and the FBI. If he was still in that detention cell, or if he'd finally seen the light and decided to cooperate. The last she'd heard from Cho, they were at a stalemate he wasn't expecting to end any time soon.

Shaking her head, Lisbon turned her thoughts back to events of the past couple of years. It wasn't like she had a whole lot more to do at the moment. The next football game wasn't until Friday night and she didn't expect any trouble before then. Not that she'd have a lot to do then. Just keep a few mouthy hotheads from decking each other over a thirty year team rivalry. What she wouldn't give for a Friday night with her team eating Case Closed pizza and sipping wine. At least she'd feel alive. What she wouldn't give to have a shaggy Jane ring her doorbell in the middle of the night silently begging to crash on her living room couch knowing she'd never turn him away.

Sadly, none of that would ever happen again.

It didn't matter she hadn't expected to survive the implosion when the CBI collapsed. She'd clung to the impossible hope they'd all be together in the end. They'd fought so many years to stay together and they'd beat the odds up to the end. Until the nightmare proving bigger than any of them caused their world to crash around their ears.

She still wasn't sure how any of them walked away with salvageable futures. How they'd all landed on their feet including Jane. She'd known he was still out there wild and free from the letters he'd managed to smuggle to her via the Carnie Express. She thanked God Sammie and Pete had continually found creative ways to get his missives to her. She'd have gone insane worrying about him otherwise.

That Jane wasn't quite so free any more was his own bloody fault. He should have stayed where he knew they couldn't touch him. He probably would have if he hadn't been ready to come home for some insane reason known only to him. He was neither naïve or stupid. That Abbott would eventually figure out he was getting word to her and how was a forgone conclusion. But, Jane clearly hadn't cared if they found him. It wasn't like the Feebs could do anything to him. Or he couldn't move on to another "safe" place if they'd tried. He would have figured out another way to get word to her or stopped communicating all together if it got too hot. She'd have understood.

She always did.

There was honestly no good reason why Jane should have penned that ridiculous list of terms or why he should be stateside. It didn't make sense except to say he wanted to be. He'd had enough of life on the lam. She wasn't stupid enough to think missing her had a lot to do with his actions. That they'd ever be together like _that_ was an impossible fantasy. That he'd even want to be even more so. For all she knew, Jane had a woman waiting somewhere in the wings. With him, anything could happen. But, if he did, she was pretty darned sure Agent Fischer wasn't her.

While she'd been glad to see the bane of her existence in Austin, she hadn't liked seeing his wings so thoroughly clipped. Then again, knowing Jane, he had something up his sleeve. He had to have. What, she didn't know, and didn't want to know. She did know he was too savvy to have fallen for "Kim" the first American to suddenly appear on his island hideout in two long years. Even she could see something off with that scenario. In spite of the strange look on his face when the woman first joined them at that noxious room, she knew Jane had seen through her act from the start. He had or he wouldn't be Jane.

From what she'd seen, he was definitely still Jane.

She knew as well that he was playing the FBI every bit as much as they were playing him. She certainly hoped so although she wasn't entirely sure he hadn't slipped up. Then again, she found that hard to believe. Two years out of the game wouldn't have dulled Jane's senses that much. She couldn't see that happening. Chicanery was in his blood. You might take the boy out of the carnival; but, you couldn't take the carnie out of the boy. Not with Jane.

But, if he _was_ off his game, it wouldn't last long. He'd be back to his old self in no time. She was sure of it.

Before he was done, Abbott and the higher ups would know what it meant to tangle with Patrick Jane. They wouldn't know what hit them. She'd seen it too many times before. Her old friend wouldn't up and basically throw himself on the mercy of the FBI without a few backup plans bouncing around in his head. She could only hope Agent Fischer was ready to meet the _real _Patrick Jane. He would lead her on a merry chase before he was done.

Lisbon was almost sad she'd had to leave a day after leaving her ex-Consultant to his new handlers and his detention cell. Personal feelings aside, she didn't want to get dragged back into Jane's messes. She'd gotten used to her new life and it wasn't that bad. Besides, she didn't have a lot of options. She was a cop. She always had been and she always would be. End of story. However, she had a feeling her wants weren't playing into things. Jane would find a way to embroil her in his universe in spite of her wishes to the contrary. He didn't appear willing to live without her now that he was back.

Under different circumstances, she'd be flattered. Maybe a whole lot more. Under these, not so much.

Idly twirling her empty cup, Lisbon admitted every last one of them was a walking miracle. She couldn't help going over the last couple of years yet again. It wasn't like she had anything better to do than going round and round in mental circles at the moment. She didn't. Seeing Jane a few days ago was causing her to wax even more poetically than usual. She kept going over everything to see if she'd missed something over the last two years. If there was something they could have done differently. She honestly didn't think so.

At least Grace and Wayne had made a solid life for themselves in San Francisco. She couldn't be happier for her friends. Lisbon laughed at the thought that whole "I don't do personal" had fallen by the wayside a long time ago. She did do personal and she did it very well. The Rigsbys were two of her closest friends and Maddy was her goddaughter. You didn't get more personal than that. Their marriage was thriving and their security business was doing well. She couldn't be happier for them and she loved their occasional visits.

Cho was a Feeb already doing quite well from what she'd seen. Like she didn't see that one coming once their names were finally cleared. Abbott had taken a liking to her tough, Korean Agent. He'd also realized the incredible asset the man could be to his team. He'd offered him a job as soon as he finished training. Cho had asked her opinion and accepted her blessings. The rest was history.

As for her, here she was giving talks to grammar school students and catching chicken thieves. It wasn't as exciting as tracking serial killers or working with Jane. But, what could she say? She was content. She truly was. She'd exited her old life with far more grace than expected. She'd gotten that elusive second chance to build a comfortable life doing what she loved. She'd even briefly had a love interest who'd wanted too much too fast. Dan had quickly exited her life soon after he'd headed down that road. They were still friends; but, that was as far as it went. She wasn't ready to settle down and get married. She wasn't sure she'd ever be. She wasn't really the 2.5 kids and a dog type although the canine would be nice. She might look into that now she had her own place.

Contemplating her circumstances, Lisbon laughed out loud that she was even entertaining regrets about leaving her old life behind. How stupid could she get? As long as she kept reminding herself she was happy, she could force herself to believe it. Even on her darker days. So what if the worst she had to worry about was the occasional robbery or a rowdy bout of public drunkedness at the biker bar outside of town? Thankfully their last murder was the year before she moved here. It had been a fiasco leading the old Chief's early retirement. She didn't need any more fiascos in her life. She'd take the status quo any day which meant she was out of here by 6:00 pm at the latest and after hours calls were rare.

Rising to her feet cup in hand, Lisbon started at the sound of a voice she shouldn't be hearing anywhere near the vicinity of her office. Much less through a door she knew darned well she'd locked behind her a while ago. It was the only way she could get a few minutes peace. Henry was almost as pesky as a certain fair haired wunderkind she'd worked with a lifetime ago.

"So, this is where you've been hiding for the past year and a half." Jane poked his head through her doorway. "Before you ask, it's really me and both Abbott and Fischer know I'm here. Well, they know I'm around here somewhere. I gave them the slip back at the hotel."

"Do not tell me I'm going to have your frantic handlers on my doorstep in the next few minutes." Lisbon shook her head. "Damn it, Jane, I've had two years of peace. I don't need your crap starting with picking my locked office door."

"Come on, Lisbon." Jane rolled his eyes. "Would I do that? The office door, yes, the other, no. I left Abbott a note saying I was dropping by to see you. It's not like I'm getting that far wearing this anyway."

Jane motioned towards the ankle bracelet monitoring his every movement.

"How did you get past Henry?" Lisbon placed her hands irritably on her hips thinking some things never changed. "He's supposed to screen my visitors."

"You mean the kid with the glasses out front?" Jane's brow rose in affront. "It wasn't hard."

"I guess it wasn't for you." Lisbon smirked. "What are you doing here? I thought I left you back in Austin with Agent Fischer."

"You did; but, we've got our first case." Jane agreed. "It's in a town about thirty miles away."

"That's nice." Lisbon said. "But, what does that have to do with me?"

"You know the answer to that." Jane said. "Working with you is the only way I'm cooperating with them. They know that. Since this is in your neck of the woods, it's my job to convince you to give us a hand while we're passing through."

"Convince away; but, it's not getting you anywhere. I've already told you I'm not giving up my job because you decided to come back to the States." Lisbon reminded him. "That's not happening. I like my job and I've built a comfortable life here."

"You're bored out of your mind." Jane countered. "It's written all over your face."

"Maybe on occasion; but, I have a nice house, a good life, and job security." Lisbon reminded him. "I even have friends. I'm not ready to give all that up any time soon."

"You'll have job security at the FBI." Jane reminded her. "Besides, you won't have to. Since our cases are all over, you can live anywhere."

"There hasn't been an offer." Lisbon commented not actually believing she'd said that. "Not that I'd accept if there was."

"There will be." Jane promised. "Once I prove just how necessary you are to the team. In the meantime, you can take a few hours here and there to assist me and the FBI. It's not like there's much going on here."

"I like my job." Lisbon reminded him. "It's tranquil."

"Keep telling yourself that." Jane repeated. "Maybe you'll start to believe it although I seriously doubt it. You're too much of a realist to deny the truth. You're chafing at the bit to sink your teeth into a real case. Stop lying to yourself."

Right, she'd been doing just that for years. All she had to do was admit how happy she was having Jane back in her life to realize that. Feelings she'd managed to shove into the darkest recesses of her mind were starting to bubble up in unacceptable ways. Shushing her wayward thoughts, Lisbon moved on to safer things.

"Stop it." Lisbon demanded not wanting to be psychoanalyzed since Jane had a habit of hitting too close to home. "I'll see what I can do with giving you that hand. But, I'm not quitting my job so get that thought out of your head."

"That's my girl." Jane held his arms out smiling when Lisbon walked willingly into them. As much as he'd enjoyed hugging her back in Austin, he was enjoying this hug a whole lot more. He didn't have to worry about prying eyes or people walking in on them. He could just squeeze the life out of her and let his feelings show. It wasn't like she could see his face anyway. "I'm not doing this without you, Lisbon. You have to know that by now."

"Jane, we aren't going there." Lisbon refused to restate her stance yet again preferring to hug him instead deciding he felt really good. "I'm happy where I am."

"Hey, Boss, there's a couple of Feebs out here asking for you and that blonde guy." Henry poked his head in the door before doing a double take at seeing his Boss tangled up with the stranger in a much too friendly way. Dan wasn't going to like that turn of events. Not that he was telling him. The Boss would kick his tail if he did. While he liked working for the Chief, she was one tough little woman he had a lot of respect for. More than he did that sniveling attorney so he wasn't saying a word even if he probably should. "I'll let them know you'll be out in a minute."

"That won't be necessary, Henry." Lisbon stepped out of Jane's embrace mildly surprised Abbott and Fischer were showing her enough respect not to barrel into her office unannounced. "You can send them in."

"Jane, pull another stunt like this and you're back in that detention cell." Abbott announced to no one in particular. "Hello, Lisbon."

"Abbott, Fischer, why don't you have a seat?" Lisbon motioned to the empty chairs. "There's no reason to stand around glaring at each other when we can talk this out instead."

Lisbon said a silent prayer of thanks the two FBI agents were doing as she asked. All she had to do now was defuse the uncomfortable situation Jane was doing everything in his power to create. Shooting him a dirty look, she dared him to step out of line again. He'd already done enough by coming to her office without permission. Catching his responding smirk, Lisbon realized she was in for a very long battle.

Jane would see to that.

#

While I already know the upcoming episodes are going to play out far differently than anything I write, it's still fun to pretend you can read Heller's mind when you know you can't.:) ~Calla


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for the input whether a guest review or voicing your opinion on the older AU stories.

I'm working long hours the next three days so I doubt there will be an update to this story before next Monday or Tuesday. There may be one to Passing the Point of Return since that chapter is mostly written. ~Calla

#

Sitting on the edge of her bed while she zipped her bootie, Lisbon wondered how she got herself into these things. No, she knew how. His name was Patrick Jane. He'd done it again. Fortunately, she'd done it again, too. Managed to smooth Abbott's ruffled feathers in spite of Jane's determination to keep him riled.

By the end of their impromptu pow-wow she'd also managed to garner a few hours alone with Jane over dinner in a very public place. She didn't doubt their every move would be under surveillance by some undercover Feeb. They weren't about to trust Jane's whereabouts to an ankle monitor. Those things could be tampered with. Personally, she didn't care who watched them as long as he or she remained out of their hair. All that really mattered was those few personal hours to catch up with her dearest friend after a long absence. She wasn't about to let him go anywhere.

Besides, it wasn't like they'd had time to chit chat all those weeks ago when they'd met up for the first time in two long years. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Jane had been swept away to his detention cell within moments of refusing to cooperate. She'd flown back home soon after. What could she say but the truth?

She hoped tonight would be different.

Giving herself one last look over in the mirror, Lisbon decided she'd do in pinch. Her hair was down instead of up and her makeup was much brighter than her somber "work" look. The eggplant cashmere sweater she'd donned brought out her eyes and her jeans fit nicely. They weren't too tight or too loose on her curves. As for the black leather booties, they were like the ones she'd worn for years with a higher heel. She looked attractive and comfortably casual; yet, still professional enough to represent her high profile job.

Her appearance was nothing special nor anything Jane hadn't seen before. She didn't want to give either of them any weird ideas now they didn't work for the same Agency. Not that she thought he might harbor any. But, still, better safe than sorry. She was feeling a bit off kilter herself at the moment. Two years of nothing but one-way letters before suddenly being thrust face to face out of the blue was bound to upset both their equilibriums…especially hers

As for anyone recognizing Jane or figuring out who he was after the fact, she wasn't making any apologies. She'd never hidden the fact they were still friends nor said he was out of her life. If anyone had jumped to other conclusions, that was their problem. Besides, Jane's presence in her world was legitimate. She'd received a call earlier today from the higher ups advising her to cooperate with Abbott and Fischer. Consulting with the FBI couldn't do anything but help their town in the long run.

Lisbon could have told them differently; but, she hadn't. She wasn't about to miss her chance to work with Jane again. Nor was she sharing how she felt. He'd milk such a confession for all it was worth.

Fastening her amethyst earring, Lisbon surveyed her appearance one last time wondering all the while what she thought she was doing. There was no sane reason she should be going out to dinner with Jane alone except he'd asked her and Abbott had consented for some insane reason. He probably foolishly thought giving them a chance to catch up for old time's sake would make Jane easier to handle. She wasn't about to point out the error of his thinking. The only thing making her ex-consultant remotely malleable was letting him have his way. She didn't see that happening any time soon.

Glancing at her bedside clock, Lisbon realized she needed to get a move on. Someone would be dropping Jane on her front doorstep soon. She'd be driving them to the restaurant where they'd have dinner before coming back to her place for an hour or two. From what Abbott told her someone would be ringing her doorbell promptly at ten to collect Jane for the night. They all had an early start tomorrow. Smirking at her reflection, Lisbon belly laughed at the ridiculous moment she'd had an overwhelming urge to say, "Yes, Dad." to Dennis Abbott as he laid down the law. He'd reminded her nothing so much as her own father when she'd gone out on her first date.

The big difference was both she and Jane were adults and it wasn't a date. They didn't need a ten o'clock curfew. She was perfectly capable of dropping Jane by the hotel once they were done. But, she hadn't pointed out any of that. She simply accepted Abbott's terms fully understanding his need to feel in control of the situation. It had been all she could do not to burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of anyone thinking they could control Jane.

Not going to happen unless he wanted it to.

Walking down the stairs, Lisbon sauntered into her kitchen and took her black leather jacket off the bar stool. Slipping into it the sleeves, she wiggled around making sure she was comfortable before heading off to answer the door bell. Jane had arrived. Right on time…Must have something to do with the FBI's influence…She could remember plenty of times when he'd taken his own sweet time meeting her.

"Hello, Jane." Lisbon said as she flung open the door and waved at his FBI escort still hovering in the drive. "Long time no see."

"Nice place." Jane said as he stepped through the open door. "I'll assume you own it since it doesn't look like a rental."

"For the past year." Lisbon said as she locked the door behind them. "I'd been on the job about six months and knew I was staying."

"You did well." Jane said taking a look around. "While I know they pay you well, this place had to be a steep for a single income. I'm assuming there's a story here."

"Sort of." Lisbon agreed. "This house came on the market for a steal about the time I started looking. The owners had gotten transferred to Japan and wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. I'd noticed the place when I first got to town and liked it so I jumped at the chance to negotiate. Guess who won?"

"I think that's clear." Jane smiled at her obvious excitement.

"I guess it is. I'm now the proud owner of a beautiful house on a couple of acres five miles from the town square." Lisbon's tone conveyed she'd never really expected to find herself in exactly this place in her life. "Buying instead of renting seemed like a good way to start rebuilding my life. I haven't regretted my decision since. Well, maybe when I have to pay the yard service; but, who doesn't? You want to check the place out?"

"Yeah, I think I would." Jane agreed curious how her home would differ from her apartment. "Lead the way."

Lisbon led him from her foyer through the den to the kitchen. It was pristine and professional. It was also clearly used far more than her old kitchen was.

"I like it." Jane said as he walked over to open her well stocked refrigerator. "It seems other things have changed as well."

Lisbon wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. But, she couldn't deny the truth. There was a lot more in her refrigerator now than sandwich meat, cheese, and eggs. There was also a lot more in her pantry than chips and a loaf of bread.

"I have time to cook now." Lisbon admitted although she omitted the fact she'd briefly had someone to cook for. "It's kind of nice."

"I imagine it is." Jane agreed. "You'll have to cook for me some time."

"If I get the chance, I might. We don't exactly live in the same zip code anymore." Lisbon said as she removed a small pistol from the kitchen drawer beside her and stuffed it into her handbag. "Give me a minute to get situated and we'll finish the tour."

"I see some things never change." Jane's eyebrow rose humorously. "I'll bet you've got guns stashed all over this place."

"Maybe." Lisbon said noncommittally. "Since I don't want to walk into the restaurant with my handgun in plain sight, this makes a lot more sense."

"I guess it does since you have a concealed weapons permit." Jane agreed. "Your reasoning is still a little funky though. I mean, it's okay you're packing as long as nobody sees it? Why not just wear your hip harness? It's not like people don't know you're a cop."

"Who says I'm not?" Lisbon lifted her arm exposing the handgun at her waist discretely hidden by the cut of her jacket. "I don't want to give off the wrong vibe." One saying she was trigger happy even if she did have the right. "Besides, you never know what's going to happen out there."

"In this town?" Jane snorted. "I'll bet you spend more time flirting with old men in the park than you do apprehending criminals."

"I didn't say that." Lisbon shot Jane a dirty look as she closed her purse.

"You don't have to." Jane informed her.

"We have our fair share of unsavory characters." Lisbon snarked.

"Right. Like the teenager you took into custody for streaking across the football field on a dare last month?" Jane smiled at her knowing snort. "I'll bet that one gives you hell."

"His dad is a preacher." Lisbon stated. "What do you think?"

"The kid's going through a rebellious stage." Jane didn't need her confirming nod. "I'll bet you put the fear of God in him before you were done."

"I put the fear of something in him." Lisbon agreed leading the way out of her spotless kitchen. "I don't think he'll be embarrassing his dad anytime soon."

"That's good to know." Jane followed her past the formal dining room into her den taking in the comfortable ambiance easily allowing him to visualize Lisbon sitting on her couch casually sipping a glass of red wine. "Nice room."

"It's comfortable." Lisbon commented as she led him past her office and living room towards the stairs. "There's not much to see up here except the bedrooms and a couple of baths. It's more house than I need; but, the price was right so it was a good investment. Not to mention buying over renting sent the right message to my employers."

"The one that said you're here to stay." Jane smirked over her shoulder as he took in her tastefully furnished master suite resplendent in vibrant blues and greens accented with a hint of gold and China red. "At least your intentions are good."

"Yeah, that one." Lisbon agreed ignoring the rest of his statement. "Well, what do you think?"

"That you invested a lot more time and money in furnishing this place than your apartment." Jane answered her honestly. "You've made a real home for yourself and I like it."

"So do I." Lisbon agreed. "This is the first house I've ever owned. I always intended getting my own place after I'd been at the CBI for a while; but, I never did. It just always seemed like renting was easier."

"You mean your life got too crazy with all the Red John garbage." Jane said quietly.

"Maybe." Lisbon said. "Buying never felt right. Maybe some part of me knew it was all going to come tumbling down one day. It was a lot easier getting out of my lease than selling a house would have been."

"I'm sure it was." Jane agreed as he stepped into her spacious bathroom complete with a garden tub and oversized shower. "Nice tub."

"I enjoy soaking in it." Lisbon said before asking what she really wanted to know. "What about your place?"

"Although I never told you, I sold it before the final show down with Red John." Jane answered honestly. "There've been a few ghouls hiding out in the shadows wanting to purchase the place "As Is" for years. I knew the end was coming and I'd need funds so I had an old friend quietly arrange a fast sale on the down low. It worked out well for everyone. The buyers were willing to pay what I wanted to own a piece of Red John history and I was willing to let the place go for the substantial sum they were offering. As strange as this might sound, they were willing to pay more than the place was worth without deducting for repairs. The money was transferred to an off-shore account the same day the sale closed."

"I'm sorry you had to do that." Lisbon said. "I know it cost you a lot to get rid of your home."

"Don't be." Jane walked back into her bedroom and motioned for Lisbon to join him. "It was time."

"You really feel that way?" Lisbon asked as Jane draped his arm over her shoulder and led her down the stairs.

"I did and I do. My job was done and my family was gone. That place was just a vacant house where a terrible thing happened once upon a time. It certainly wasn't a home. There really wasn't any reason to keep it any longer." Jane clarified. "Now, I think it's time for us to leave or we're going to be late."

"I think you're right." Lisbon agreed. "Let me grab my purse and we can go."

Following Lisbon into the kitchen, Jane watched her grab her purse and turn off the light. Leading the way to the door, she carefully checked the lock and the dead bolt before heading towards the garage exit.

"You still have the Mustang." Jane glanced at the familiar car. "I don't know why I expected you to be driving something else."

"I just bought a house." Lisbon said. "I can't afford a new car, too. Besides, that comes with the job."

She tilted her head in the direction of the spiffy maroon SUV.

"Nice; but we're taking yours." Jane stated unnecessarily knowing Lisbon wouldn't use her work vehicle for a dinner date. "I think I like that better."

Not that he considered their dinner date business. It was anything but whether Lisbon realized it or not. In fact, he considered it reconnaissance and getting the lay of the land. He'd been gone a long time with nothing but a few handwritten "I miss you's" between them. His, not hers, as Lisbon hadn't dared write him back so he was pretty clueless when it came to her personal life. They hadn't had much time to get caught up when she was in Austin.

"Yes, we are." Lisbon said from the driver's side of her car. "Now, we need to get a move on or we're going to miss our reservation."

For once, Jane obediently slid into his seat, closed the door, and fastened his seatbelt. Watching Lisbon pull out of her garage, he decided as much as he hated not working with her, he was glad she was doing well for herself. If anyone deserved a good life, Lisbon did.

#

Pulling his gaze from the couple in the midst of a genteel lover's spat in the booth across from them; Jane turned his attention back to Lisbon. They'd been sitting at this small table in a shadowed corner of the restaurant for the past fifteen minutes. Not that he was complaining. The place was hopping, their server was overwhelmed, and he didn't mind at all.

He was surreptitiously studying his dinner guest. He'd forgotten how pretty she was until he'd sauntered into that room in Austin to find her waiting for him. He'd been slightly gobsmacked to realize she was more attractive than he'd remembered. More attractive than she was in the well worn photograph he still carried in his wallet. The one he'd often studied to get through those really rough days on the Island.

She was even prettier tonight in her purple cashmere sweater with her hair unbound. The color really brought out her eyes. Jane wondered briefly if there was someone in the shadows she hadn't told him about. Ignoring the jab in the gut such a thought wrought, he set about satisfying his curiosity.

"Love interest?" He asked suddenly startling Lisbon from whatever daydream she'd slipped into.

"Not anymore." Lisbon glanced briefly into his eyes before looking away. "I gave Dan his walking papers a few months ago.

"Dan, huh?" Jane asked surprised she'd answered affirmatively. "What happened? He got too serious too fast?"

"Maybe." Lisbon looked over Jane's shoulder carefully avoiding his eyes. "Or maybe we didn't work out."

"Law enforcement?" Jane tried again.

"What?" Lisbon was somewhat befuddled by his question. "I'm sorry."

"Your guy?" Jane asked. "Law enforcement?"

"Sort of." Lisbon answered. "An attorney from a neighboring town."

"An attorney." Jane gave her an inscrutable look over the rim of his tea cup. "I see."

"I don't think you do." Lisbon said. "Dan is a very nice man. He's just not the one for me."

"I can't see you with someone who was anything less." Jane agreed. "I'd say nice and stable are a given."

"I guess." Lisbon agreed. "He proposed about six months after we started dating."

"Since there isn't a ring," Jane glanced purposefully at her left hand. "I'd say you turned him down."

"What do you think?" Lisbon hedged. "He moved too fast and he wouldn't slow down. Besides, I like my independence. You know that."

"The old moving too fast argument." Jane smirked over his cup. "The kiss of death if I ever heard it." Taking another sip, he took a moment to savor the flavor of his tea. "This is almost as good as you make."

"It should be." Lisbon smirked back. "Cosmo is Greek; but, Mattie's as English as they come."

"That explains it." Jane sat his cup back in his saucer. "It also explains the real Devonshire Cream instead of that fake stuff out of a tub."

Jane nodded in the direction of a passing dessert tray.

"I guess so." Lisbon agreed. "What about you?"

"What about me what?" Jane asked motioning to their waiter before turning his attention back to Lisbon. "He'll be over to take our order in a few minutes so you need to decide what you want." She'd been studying her menu for a good ten minutes.

"What about you?" Lisbon restated as she closed the menu. "Do you have a love interest?"

Lisbon gestured in the direction of his bare finger. They hadn't exactly had time to discuss personal matters in Austin. She hadn't been there that long and things had grown rather tense after their initial hug.

"What do you think?" Jane asked. "I can't wait to hear what you say."

"The ring's gone." Lisbon observed. "But, I'd say it's a recent occurrence."

"You'd be right." Jane agreed. "I took it off a couple of days before I left the Island."

"Then I'd say no." Lisbon continued. "There's no love interest. I was hoping you'd find someone like maybe your new handler."

She shoved the nasty voice smirking "_Not._" into the deepest, darkest crevice of her mind. She _so _wasn't going there.

"You know better." Jane said. "I could hardly romance a woman who lied to me."

"I guess you couldn't." Lisbon agreed. "Although she's an attractive woman."

"She's also my handler and off limits if I were interested which I'm not." Jane said quietly listening to Lisbon give their waiter her order. "I'll have the same she's having."

"So Agent Fischer didn't catch your interest?" Lisbon asked.

"In the sense that she was the first American I'd seen in two years, yes." Jane admitted. "In the sense she made me start considering things I hadn't thought I was ready to consider, again, the answer is yes. Could I see myself having a real relationship with her, the answer is no. I won't lie and say I didn't enjoy spending time with "Kim." We both know I did. However, I think you already know I already had an idea who and what she was."

"I suspected you might have been on to her." Lisbon agreed taking a sip of her soft drink. "So she was a means to an end."

"Pretty much." Jane agreed. "She certainly wasn't romance material."

"Not romance material, huh?" Lisbon smirked slightly. "Is that so?"

"Yes, that's so." Jane confirmed. "Now hush and eat your chicken."

Jane motioned to the lemon scented chicken and Greek potatoes their server placed in front of them.

#

Wiggling a comfortable spot on Lisbon's couch, Jane watched her opening the bottle of red wine. Pouring two generous glasses she turned and stopped to drink in how relaxed Jane appeared. She'd never seen him looking so good.

Like the man he'd once been she'd never seen.

"Here." Lisbon handed Jane the glass of red wine before settling on the couch beside him. "We still have a couple of hours before Abbott's people come knocking on the door. Why don't you tell me about the case?"

"You know about as much as I do." Jane said. "We have a missing computer programmer. I'm supposed to figure out what happened to him and why. You're supposed to help me. It's up to the FBI to get him back."

"You really don't know anything do you?" Lisbon shook her head. "How do they expect you to work like that? They really don't know you do they?"

"It's need to know, Lisbon, and they don't think I qualify yet." Jane answered honestly. "Don't let it bother you. I'm not worried. I'll figure it out. As for not knowing me, I'd say they don't. But, you do. That's why I need you."

Looking at her curled comfortably beside him with her knees drawn up and her eyes flashing, it suddenly hit him wanted her, too; but, that was a matter for another day.

"I can't just leave my responsibilities to go high tailing it after you." Lisbon took a sip of her wine. "It wouldn't be fair to the people who hired me in good faith. They expect me to do my job. I won't let them down."

"Trust me, your Mayor and the rest of City Council are excited to have their Police Chief on consult with the FBI." Jane informed her. "They were panting all over themselves to cooperate when Abbott approached them. It seems your second in command can handle the yokels for a few days. If anything more extreme happens, your old Chief can temporarily come out of retirement until you get back."

"Jackson?" Lisbon asked before taking a very ladylike sip of wine. "That might work. He was a Detective with the NYPD before he came out here. He helped me a lot my first few months and made the transition a lot easier. He's been retired twenty years; but, his mind is very sharp. I know he's still in the loop and he's kept up with all the latest forensics so I'm sure he could take the reins for a while if he had to."

"You're taking all of this much calmer than I expected." Jane tipped his glass against his lips. "Where's the kick ass Lisbon I'm used to. Abbott's backing you into a corner and you're letting him."

"_I'm_ not stupid enough to fight the FBI." Lisbon stated bluntly. "Not on this and not when my employers are clearly in their corner. I'm also not dumb enough to believe your case is in a neighboring town."

"It's not." Jane agreed. "We're in town to get you."

"I don't have a choice do I?" Lisbon wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. "You haven't been back in the States but a few weeks and you're already taking over my life again."

"You can't fight what's meant to be." Jane didn't bother denying her accusation. "We've worked together too long to ever truly be apart."

Lisbon had a feeling he was talking about a lot more than work; but, she wasn't going there any time soon. Every time she'd thought there was a romantic slant to Jane's actions in the past, he'd neatly sidestepped the issue. Skittered away like a frightened crab. She wasn't putting herself in that position again. She wasn't confronting him or trying to clarify his intentions. In fact, she was ignoring the whole mess as she always did. It was easier on everyone.

Besides, she wasn't sure how she'd feel if Jane suddenly admitted he was interested in her like _that_. Shocked to her socks she was sure. After that, who knows? Ignoring the voice silently chanting "Liar, liar, liar" in her head, Lisbon turned her attention back to Jane.

"I guess I can't." She agreed. "We'll figure out what to do about work tomorrow. What do you say to having another glass of wine and spending the rest of our time catching up?"

"Sounds like a plan." Jane watched Lisbon top off their wine glasses before setting the empty bottle aside. "What's on your mind, Teresa? You can ask me anything you want to know. I won't promise to answer, but I'll try."

"I'm holding you to that." Lisbon's tone was soft and introspective. "Was it worth it in the end?"

Jane was impressed she'd finally asked the question he asked Max Winters so long ago. He'd been expecting it.

"It was how it had to be. I told you that from the start." Jane refused to flinch from the look in her eyes. "In most respects, I'd say it was worth it. He had to be stopped. In one, it definitely wasn't. Beyond that, I'm not going to elaborate."

He wouldn't know where to begin. Seeing the questions bubbling in her eyes and knowing he wasn't ready to answer them, Jane leaned over to brush his lips against hers. The lightest of pecks, it was still enough of a caress to derail Lisbon from her current thoughts.

"Did you just kiss me?" Lisbon was clearly in a state of disbelief.

"Yes, I think I did." Jane wasn't nearly as stunned as she felt.

"I know you did." Lisbon stuttered. "What the hell?"

"I've missed you." Jane said quietly brushing a curl out of her eyes. "Let's leave it at that for the time being."

Blinking like a deer in the headlights, Lisbon decided she could do that. She really could. She did _not_ need Jane kissing her. On the forehead or cheek, yeah, he'd done that plenty of times in the past. But, the lightest brush of his lips against hers? No way! She did _not_ need the kind of out of control thoughts presently running riot through her head.

"I can do that." Taking a fortifying gulp of wine, Lisbon decided to let sleeping dogs lie. "Why don't you tell me when you finally ditched the three piece suit? I never expected to see you dressed like that without a vest anywhere in sight."

She motioned towards the sports jacket, dress shirt, and jeans get up Jane was currently rocking. Albeit with a slight air of discomfort no one would notice unless they knew him well. Since that was a rather elite club composed of a handful of people, Lisbon guessed his secret was safe.

"Yeah, well, it was a little hot for three piece suits where I was." Jane chuckled lightly recalling how fast he'd ditched that three piece suit in favor of jeans and a more casual look as he'd made his way across the border. "Not to mention it would have been a dead giveaway to my real identity."

"Since I'm assuming the suit is gone for good, it seems this is what I have to look forward to?" Lisbon took in his smoothly shaven face and glasses. "Different; but, I like it."

"That's nice to know." Jane ran his hand through his curls. "You're going to be looking at similar getups for a while to come."

"You look like a different man." Lisbon set her glass on the coffee table. "More relaxed in spite of everything going on."

"I am a different man." Jane told her. "But I'm still the man you know."

"I can see that." Lisbon observed.

"It's going to be all right, Lisbon." Jane reached out to pat her hand reassuringly. "You can believe that."

"I'll take you at your word." She always had even when she hadn't entirely trusted him. "I don't have a whole lot of choice."

"I don't suppose you do." Jane agreed.

"You've got something up your sleeve to get free of the FBI don't you?" Lisbon asked out of the blue. "I can't see you turning yourself in and just giving in to being manipulated for the next ten years."

"I can't answer that at the moment." Jane stated honestly. "I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out. In the meantime, suffice it to say I really missed you."

"I missed you, too." Lisbon agreed. "But, we aren't going there."

"No, we aren't." Jane agreed. "Not at the moment. How are the brothers taking all of this?"

Ignoring the unstated _but we will_, Lisbon answered his question allowing Jane to steer them into safer waters.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for interest in this story! I was shocked by the response! Thank you to my guest reviewers as always! The rest of you guys should already know how very much I appreciate you!

Also, I have made one minor correction to Chapter One which is changing Lisbon's location to Washington State as it should be. I can thank conflicting spoilers for the mistake Green Thumb clarified. I'd gone with Washington State initially; but changed it to reflect what I was reading. My bad!

Just to give you a heads up, it's the desire of my twisted little mind to write a mildly sweet, mildly humorous story lacking any real angst. Since we all know how good I am at writing sweet or humorous or angst free, we'll see how that goes! This one is also definitely going to be AU set in the loosely interpreted CU as I think you can already see! ~Calla

#

Watching Jane disappear into the waiting car, Lisbon waved one final time before closing her door. Turning the lock, she was still amazed it wasn't necessary. Not in this town. She could leave her door wide open if she pleased and nothing would happen. The worse she'd have to worry about was waking up to an overly curious raccoon or opossum where they didn't belong. Like on her bed staring back at her. She seriously doubted anyone in these parts was stupid enough to take her on in her castle…Or anywhere else for that matter…It was general knowledge PC Lisbon packed serious heat.

It was also general knowledge she knew how to use her weapons of choice.

She'd caused quite the ripple last year when she'd taken the "Crown" from the reigning "Sharpshooter" in the annual contest down at the Shooting Range six months after blowing into town. It was bad enough she wasn't a local. But, to add insult to injury, she was a tiny slip of a woman. Some of the rifles she used were bigger than her. Not literally; but, close enough. That didn't change the fact she'd whipped tail and taken no prisoners. Or the fact the "Big Boys" had eventually gotten used to her presence about the time she'd won this year's contest as well without even trying.

Lisbon giggled at the thought she'd gone from expletive to hero with a handful of bullets.

Heading back into her den, she removed her boots and dropped them on the carpet. Sinking down on her couch, she drew her legs up to her chest before grabbing her glass of wine. It was mostly full as she and Jane had spent more time talking than drinking. Taking a sip, she mulled over her evening. Dining with Jane was a déjà vu moment she'd really enjoyed. He'd been an attentive, amusing dinner companion. But, then again, he always was. It wasn't like they hadn't eaten together many times before.

It was what had come afterwards that puzzled her when she'd realized Jane was up to something.

Who was she trying to kid? Jane was always up to something. She'd felt it in her bones. Unfortunately for everyone involved, she had a good idea what that something was. It didn't bode well for any of them. Or maybe it did. The end result depended on how well Abbott and the Feebs took Jane finding a way to wiggle out from under their control.

If they accepted him on his terms, her Mentalist might very well "consult" with them of his own volition. That outcome could be good for everyone involved. Jane was always up for a challenge and their cases could prove quite challenging. Besides, despite his protests to the contrary, the man liked one upping the bad guys. Crime solving was in his blood. However, if they didn't cooperate the world might very well come to an end.

The world as Abbott and Fischer knew it.

Her world might come to an end as she knew it as well. Jane had a way of forcing his way where he had no business going. He was definitely forcing his way back into her life if this day was an indication. For all she knew there might not even be a case. Abbott might just be indulging Jane to butter him up. Disarm him. Make him more inclined to give them what they wanted: his willing cooperation.

She honestly didn't know and didn't care. She did know he'd spent the past few weeks isolated in his detention cell. That just proved how well the Feebs knew their prisoner. Solitary wouldn't break Jane. For all purposes and intent, he'd been in solitary since the night his family was killed. Abbott and crew needed to wake up and smell the coffee. For a man having lived the past dozen years in self-imposed emotional exile, a few months spent staring at four blank walls wouldn't mean a thing.

Deciding not to mull over Jane's impossible stubbornness, Lisbon chose to mediate on that not-quite-a-kiss buss he'd graced her with. She wasn't an idiot. She knew Jane's intent was to stop her delving into areas he wasn't ready to visit so he'd derailed her in the most expedient manner available. He'd also decided to do something he might have secretly wanted to do while he was at it. She knew she'd secretly wanted him to. He'd also opened up another can of worms neither of them anticipated. Now she couldn't get that tender brush of his lips against hers off her mind. While hardly a legitimate kiss, his action was still _pleasant_ to say the least. It made her wonder what it would be like to have a real Jane kiss.

One that was pregnant with intent and promise.

It wasn't like she'd never entertained such thoughts before. She had. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence between partners working so closely together. She may have fleetingly entertained such thoughts about Bosco once upon a time. He'd clearly held such thoughts about her. To their credit, neither of them had ever seriously considered acting on them. Or, if Sam had, he'd been smart enough to keep such inclinations to himself knowing how well she'd handle them.

She knew his wife, and even if she hadn't, he was a married man. Definitely off limits. End of story. Shaking her head, Lisbon decided it was fortunate most partners weren't Rigsby and Van Pelt. They accepted inappropriate thoughts came with the territory and let it go at that. It was impossible not to go through a myriad of emotions when one's life was constantly in the other person's hands.

However, in hindsight, Lisbon decided maybe there was a lot more going on under the surface with Jane than she'd allowed herself to believe. Or that she'd had enough down time to really consider. In fact, she'd steered clear of any such thoughts when she could have. Denial was a beautiful thing. However, she now realized there was more to her feelings than the fact he'd saved her life a few times and kept her safe from Red John.

Minelli had been right. She'd gotten too emotionally involved with Jane and his situation early on. It was hard not to. While she'd found him an annoyance from the start, she'd also been drawn to the complexity that was Patrick Jane. Like it or not, the course of her life had been irrevocably changed from that moment on.

Taking another sip of wine, Lisbon contemplated Dan and the proposal she knew was still floating around out there. The one that said accepting was all she had to do to spend the rest of her life on easy street. Let a man she didn't love put an oversized piece of carbon on her finger and the deal was done.

She so wasn't going there.

Besides, she wasn't stupid. Had she not been the PC, her ex-lover would have never given her a second glance. Or maybe he would have as a potential conquest and bed partner; but, never a legitimate girlfriend or fiancée. His family was old money and he took his affluence seriously. Even Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon of the CBI wouldn't have been good enough to meet his internal criterion. In fact, were she not instrumental in destroying the abomination she used to work for, it would have been a giant mark against her that she'd ever worked there in the first place. Forget the cases she'd solved and the good she'd done. None of that would have mattered to the golden boy.

Lisbon snorted derisively at her past actions. She'd foolishly forced herself to put her old life behind her. She'd attempted building a future of sorts that didn't include Jane. Or any other man for that matter. They all seemed to lack what it took to ask the PC out. All except one Daniel B. Longfrew. Had she had better options, she wouldn't have dated a pompous ass like Dan in the first place. It didn't matter he was a decent man in every other way. Or that he treated her very well. He still had that air of superiority she despised.

Chugging a beer at the local cop bar was totally beneath him and shooting a game of pool? Do not go there. Oh, and he'd never been particularly nice to Henry when he'd dropped by to visit her. Not a mark in his favor, either. Henry was the man in Lisbon's opinion. The lovable dork would take a bullet for her. That meant everything in her world even if he annoyed the hell out of her at times.

She'd made the right decision in giving Dan his walking papers. And she was making the right decision in going to bed now. If she didn't miss her guess, Jane would be ringing her doorbell bright and early even before _she_ was awake. Rising to her feet, Lisbon carried the two empty glasses into the kitchen and gave them a quick wash before heading for the stairs.

#

_One month later_

Walking down the hall with her bag in hand, Lisbon dared anyone to try to stop her. She'd been right about the lay of the land. Well, about parts of it anyway. Not about everything. She certainly hadn't expected this latest turn of events.

What she _had_ been right about was Jane's visit.

There really hadn't been a case at that point. The whole thing was just Abbott testing the waters. He'd wanted to make sure she and her bosses would really cooperate when the time came for her to lend him a hand for more than a few hours. Not that he'd given her any choice. He hadn't. She resented the high-handedness the man was displaying. It was her life and her job. She should be the one choosing whether she wanted to play in his sandbox. If she'd had her druthers, she'd say, "Not."

She was fairly content shoveling dirt in her own sandbox.

He'd also wanted to make sure his people could handle Jane in the field. While a definite flight risk, he considered taking the chance worth it in the end. It was better to lose his quarry on a casual outing than in the midst of a high profile case. Of course the arrogant ass would never admit such a thing or ask for her help in restraining Jane ahead of time. No way. That would make everyone's life too easy. He preferred demanding her presence and letting her know what was happening after the fact. But, she'd read between the lines anyway. Jane's visit was a test run on the taxpayers' dollar. Abbott didn't want anything to go awry when the real deal came down the pipe. It wouldn't reflect well on him or his team if it did.

However, she'd been right a case was coming. One had followed soon after just as she expected. A case that was clear across the country in Brooklyn of all places. While she'd known the FBI's cases could be anywhere, she hadn't expected that. Somehow, she'd thought they would mainly be on the West Coast which clearly wasn't right.

However, she had realized the case was legit when Fischer, not Jane, showed up on her doorstep to escort her back to Austin. She'd wanted to turn the Agent down but couldn't. _Her _bosses had already given the go ahead to her accompanying the woman back to Texas. She'd been caught between a rock and a hard place and reacted accordingly. She'd gone without a whimper.

Fortunately, Jane had wrapped the case up with his usual flare proving the FBI wasn't wrong in their assumptions. He _was_ a case solving fool. He was also a royal pain in everyone's butt. He'd bailed yet again and gotten his rear in a sling again. However, that wasn't all bad. She'd gotten a golden opportunity in the midst of the aggravations she'd never seen coming. The chance to tell the sneaky bastard point blank how much he'd hurt her again. Especially when he'd disappeared and she'd thought he wasn't coming back. She'd been surprised at how blunt she'd been. She'd been equally surprised he'd sincerely apologized for his actions. It seemed even Jane had realized he no longer had his quest to hide behind. Red John was gone. She'd been deeply touched and forgiven him as usual. What else was new?

Stopping dead in her tracks, Lisbon gathered her thoughts and schooled her features. As far as Jane knew, the crap had hit the fan and he was done. Not that she thought he really cared. Or that he really believed it for that matter. As far as he was concerned, he was still in the midst of playing "Little Jane Games." If he lost and spent the rest of his life in jail, so be it. She knew differently.

He'd already won.

Placing her hand on the knob, Lisbon opened the door to find Jane sprawled on his bed deep in thought. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. It was a good thing the man was so cerebral since his room was starkly barren. Catching his attention, Lisbon pushed through the door to walk over to sit beside him.

"Well, you did it this time." Ignoring his affirmative murmurs, she continued voicing words she wasn't sure he expected to hear. But, she wasn't sure he didn't either. "You brought the FBI to its knees."

What she wouldn't give to know how he'd done it. Abbott hadn't been all that forthcoming with the facts. All she knew for sure was he clearly wasn't happy with whatever devious means Jane had used. That was his problem. She'd been telling them all along Jane wasn't going to stop being Jane. He was going to have the upper hand before he was done. It wasn't her fault they'd chosen not to listen.

"Did I?" Jane was wearing his typically annoying "smug bastard" look she suddenly found rather charming instead. "Did you expect any different?" shone silently from his eyes.

"And they conceded to all of your demands." Lisbon continued ignoring that glint. "Every single one."

More affirmative noises as though he'd known all along.

"How did you do it?" She was going to explode if he didn't tell her.

"Remember that thumb drive we found in Bertram's wine cellar?" How could she forget? "It's a list of The Blake Association members. I used it as leverage." Jane was clearly unrepentant.

"But, we never broke the encryption." Lisbon almost whispered not believing he'd had the audacity to make such a brilliant move. Then again, maybe she could. It was classic Jane.

"The FBI doesn't know that." Jane reminded her.

"So, that's why you escaped." Dawning wonder suffused her face. "To create a bogus list of names."

"And to enjoy a bacon wrapped hotdog." Jane reminded her knowing he didn't have to say that was the best darned dog he'd had in his life.

"I have to say, I'm impressed." If she'd thought he'd lost any of his cunning over his two long years of inactivity, she knew better now. "You outplayed the FBI."

"No contest." Jane's look clearly conveyed there was never any doubt. "Did they tell you when I start work?"

Not that he was seriously willing to do that without the woman seated beside him. If they still doubted his terms were non-negotiable or that he meant business, they wouldn't for very much longer. Lisbon would be on board before he was done.

"When _we_ start work." Lisbon informed him with a look that took his breath away.

"What about your job?" She'd been adamant about not quitting that job.

The thought briefly flittered through Jane's mind she'd better not be toying with him or there would be hell to pay. Not that he seriously thought she would. Not in that way even if she did have a slightly twisted sense of humor.

"Nah, it was boring." Lisbon said as though it was the most natural response in the world.

"Yeah, I told you." Two could play nonchalant.

"Yeah, but you had no right to." Lisbon was deadly serious. "It's my life and I'll decide what to do with it."

Taking her candid response in stride Jane said the only thing he could, "And you decided correctly."

"There was never any choice." Lisbon admitted.

"Let's see what kind of trouble we can cause." Jane knew he didn't have to vocalize what they were both thinking: It would be just like old times. Maybe not exactly; but, close enough considering everything they'd been through.

More importantly, it would be _fun_.

"Here." Lisbon offered him the bag she had in her hands. "I brought you something."

"You brought me socks." Jane made the expected, but no less genuine, fuss over her thoughtful offering. She'd brought him handmade socks from Washington State. That was so Lisbon and he loved them because they came from her…and they were the softest socks he'd ever felt. "I'm assuming your job is taken care of?" Jane set the socks aside in favor of exploring more serious matters.

"My second in command is being promoted." Lisbon casually informed him. "He'd have probably gotten the position anyways if I hadn't applied. He'll do a good job. He's been around a long time and he knows the town well."

"What about your house?" Jane asked. "It couldn't have been easy to leave it."

"It's on the market." Lisbon said. "The good news is there's already serious interest. My agent thinks she's going to have a decent offer by the weekend."

"There should be." Jane agreed. "It's a nice place. Are you going to come out all right on the deal?"

"Since I own it outright, I should. I'm asking what it's worth although I can take a few thousand less and still come out on top." Lisbon informed him. "I had enough in savings to pay cash for the place which is the other part of why I got it for such a reasonable price."

She'd also made a couple of good investments over the years so she'd had a more generous nest egg to spend than she'd have had otherwise.

"It's good you have some wiggle room." Jane agreed. "I'm assuming you're already looking for a place here?"

"I've got feelers out for a nice condo or townhouse." Lisbon agreed. "We'll see what happens. I'm certainly not ready to buy again anytime soon. I'm staying at a hotel in the interim."

"You can always stay in the Airstream with me." Jane offered with a smirk.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Lisbon snarked. "I'll leave living in sardine cans up to you." She gave a telling glance around his "suite." "I like a little more leg room. Speaking of Airstreams, you're getting a nice one. I told Abbott not to even bother trying to cut corners there or you wouldn't play."

"What about my couch?" Jane asked.

"I've already told you, all of your demands were met." Lisbon reminded him. "You already have me. You'll be getting your office, your tea, your couch, and your Airstream once the FBI gets it all together.

The one thing I don't understand is why you didn't demand a car as well?"

"I figured we'll be riding together." Jane said. "Besides, the key to getting what you want is not to demand too much." Jane ignored Lisbon's pointed snort. "An automobile on top of the travel trailer would have been one request too many. It isn't like I can't get a vehicle on my own. I just have to decide between a truck and an SUV in case I need to tow the RV."

"You'll have plenty of time to figure all of that out later." Lisbon said. "Right now we're going shopping. You need some decent clothes. After that, we might stop by that RV dealership on the outskirts of town to take a look around."

"Did Abbott approve that?" Jane's expression said he hoped not.

"Let him try to stop us." Lisbon bravely stated before relenting and admitting the truth. "What do you think? He approved everything. There's two or three RV's out there for you to choose between. Since Abbott doesn't feel like being manipulated again so soon he figured you should have a say in the matter. I told him that was a smart move. But, we'll do the trailor shopping last.

First on the list are clothes and a razor. I'm not all that fond of scruffy Jane. Oh, and put those on. I'm tired of Cho asking you where your socks are."

"I can do that." Jane agreed. "But how is Cho going to know if I'm wearing socks or not? I haven't seen him in days. The last I heard, Abbott was keeping him busy as far away from me as possible."

"Not today. Cho's going with us." Lisbon informed Jane as she sneaked a peek at her watch. "Fischer's tagging along, too. It's the only way I could get Abbott to agree to all of this. They should be showing up any time now."

"I can live with that." Jane said. "As long as you agree she's not helping me pick out either my clothes or my home."

"That's my job." Lisbon promised. "As long as there aren't any three piece suits in your future."

Jane's expression said he wasn't making any promises to that one as he actually hadn't thought that far.

"Whatever." Lisbon rolled her eyes in defeat as she rose to her feet not all that surprised when the door suddenly opened to reveal Cho's stoic face. "Hey, Cho, we ready to go?"

"Fischer's getting the car." That was as close to a 'yes' as they were going to get.

"Then I say let's go." Lisbon led the way out of the room confident Jane would fall in line.

"Those the socks Lisbon got you?" Cho nodded in the direction of Jane's feet.

"Yeah." Jane agreed. "They're really soft."

"Good." Cho said in that deadpan tone clearly conveying he couldn't care less if they were soft or not. "I'm glad to see you finally wearing some."

Turning the corner, Lisbon smiled at the ridiculous conversation going on behind her. If you'd asked her three months ago if she thought she'd ever experience another day that felt this much like old times, she'd have said "no". But, she was wrong. That's exactly how this felt. She didn't care they were at another Agency in another building and state. None of that really mattered. She was treasuring the moment as long as it lasted which wouldn't be for very long. Not with Jane involved. He was sure to rock their worlds before the day was over. She knew the man far too well.

When he'd said, "Let's see what kind of trouble we can cause." he'd meant every word.

#

A/N: Sorry for the nothing filler chapter imperfectly regurgitating dialogue, but after Sunday night I needed to figure out a workable way to get Lisbon and Jane from where I left them to where Heller took them in the episode. From here on out, this is _my_ story and Heller can resume _his_ story when the show returns from mid-season break. I'm definitely heading for AU land. It will be amusing to see if we tell a similar story in the end! I'm thinking not! ~Calla.


	4. Chapter 4

Pulling into the RV Park, Lisbon shook her head in disbelief. She still couldn't get over Jane settling for a silver _travel trailer_ of all things. Not when there were perfectly nice condos in her building. Then again, she wasn't so sure she wanted him for a neighbor. He commandeered enough of her life as it was. She'd never get away from him if he lived in the same complex! Oh, and she wasn't about to contemplate what having Jane around full-time would mean for the non-existent love life she hoped wouldn't remain nonexistent forever.

So, maybe this wasn't such a bad situation. There were certain perks to having Jane on one side of Austin and her on the other. Especially considering they were both about the same distance from FBI Headquarters. Yes, on second thought, it all made perfect sense.

Exiting her vehicle, she grabbed the wrapped bottle and covered pan from the seat beside her before heading towards Jane's abode. She wasn't all that surprised when the door swung open long before she got there. He must have been watching through that convenient window in the door. Or, more likely, he heard her pulling in the drive.

"Hello, Lisbon." Jane opened the door a little wider. "You're early as usual."

He almost made that sound like a _bad_ thing.

"Yeah, what else is new?" Lisbon pressed the pan and bottle into his waiting hands. "That's like saying you're always late."

It was nothing more or less than a statement of fact.

"I suppose it is." Jane pushed the door closed with his rear end. "I put the roast in the oven about a half hour ago. It should be ready about the time we're ready to eat." He carried her offerings into the kitchen. "I don't believe it. You baked my favorite apple crisp. Thank you Lisbon."

"Since you're cooking everything else, the least I can do is fix dessert." Lisbon took a look around the place. "Well, it looks homier than it did a couple of weeks ago."

Still spotless; but, with a few lived in touches like the clear round vase overflowing with brightly colored Hyacinths and the recently purchased salt and pepper shakers.

"That's because it is." Jane agreed. "I think we picked the best one don't you?"

"I don't think that whole rice paper and Zen theme really suited you so that let out Travel Trailer Number One." Lisbon remarked as she settled at the dinette table deciding she liked the off white Ultraleather even if would be hell to keep clean. Somehow, she didn't think Jane would have any problems. It wasn't like he had children or animals or was likely to acquire either any time soon. "You really didn't like that whole yellow, green, and brown theme going in Travel Trailer Two so, by process of elimination that left you with Travel Trailer Three so here we are."

"Do you honestly think I settled for a home I didn't like to make Abbott happy?" Jane asked as he took a spoon from the drawer before snagging a bite of apple crisp. "This is delicious, Lisbon. I'm not sure we shouldn't scrap the rest of the meal and just go for the dessert."

"I don't think so." Lisbon said. "You aren't getting off that easily. Not with how good the roast smells."

"Fine, be that way." Jane smoothed the lid back over the apple crisp before reaching for the bottle of wine. "How's the settling in at your place going?" He asked more seriously.

"How do you think?" Lisbon wiggled into a more comfortable position at the table. "You're in way better shape than I am. The last of my things just got here a couple of days ago so I've still got a spare bedroom of boxes to unpack. This starting over crap is for the birds. Especially twice in two years. "

"I guess it has been a lot easier for me than it is for you." Jane agreed as he released the bottle of wine from its decorative wrappings. "All I've had to unpack is what we recently bought." Not all that much considering his storage space. Just the practical things he needed for everyday living like wash clothes and towels, pots and pans, and the new outfits Lisbon had helped him pick out. "This is a nice vintage." He remarked as he removed a couple of glasses from the cabinet before uncorking the bottle with practiced ease.

Lisbon wondered briefly if there was anything the man didn't do well.

"It should be. I don't like cheap wine and we've got a lot to celebrate. As for the starting over being easier for you than me, I wouldn't necessarily say that." Lisbon accepted the glass he offered her. "If it is, it's because you're starting from scratch without all the accumulated clutter. I'm fortunate my new place is big enough to hold most of the furniture I bought for my last place. What I can't use is going with the house."

She was also fortunate she hadn't footed the bill for hauling her belongings halfway across the country. Some unknown party had. To this day she was clueless whether Jane had coughed up the dough or if a certain federal agency had. All she did know was she'd received a receipt marked "Paid in Full" and she'd left it at that.

"That sounds practical." Jane remarked sliding onto the bench across from her. "I hope you're not losing too much. I know how proud you were of your house."

"One bedroom suit, a formal living room, and the formal dining room." Lisbon decided she really hadn't liked her dining room set all that much anyway. The price had been right and it matched the molding so she'd gone with it. She'd felt the same about the rest of it. She'd lucked out in that one of the higher end furniture stores in a neighboring town was going out of business after fifty years so she'd taken advantage of the savings choosing not to go anywhere else. At the time, between the house and the furnishings, it had seemed like everything was finally falling into place after a scary six months. Now, she knew differently. If anything, her world was finally falling into place _now_. "No big deal since I didn't really like the stuff that's staying anyway. The price was right when I needed it."

"That's good." Jane was glad to hear it. "I'd hate to think you were parting with anything you really liked."

They both knew that was a lie. What were a few sticks of furniture compared to getting to work together again? Not that much in either of their opinions.

"As if I would." Lisbon snarked. "I'd have just gotten a bigger place and put it on your tab."

"I have a tab?" Jane stared at her through the bowl of his glass deciding Lisbon looked rather interesting through a maroon haze. "I wasn't aware of that."

"You've had one for years." Lisbon informed him positive she'd brought the point up a few years ago when she'd gotten really mad with him for bringing about the ruination of her expensive leather coat. "I'm pretty sure you owe me a lot by now." Lisbon said.

"For what?" Jane asked knowing she was going to tell him. "I don't remember agreeing to that."

"I don't remember asking." Lisbon replied checking out the whole purple haze thing that seemed to have him so fascinated. "But, we can start with that brand new pair of leather booties that got waterlogged when I had to run through that busted fire hydrant to stop that drug dealer from bashing your head not long after you joined the team." Jane snorted recalling the incident from a good ten years ago. "Then there was my brand new suit that got covered in paint…." From five years ago. "Then there was the car seat I had to get replaced because you got blood all over it…." That one was three years ago and it hadn't even been his blood.

"I'm sure that list goes on and on." Jane casually remarked more amused than offended she'd kept a running note of his transgressions.

"Damned skippy." Lisbon snarked. "One day I'm going to collect on it, too."

"I bet you will." Jane's look said he was so afraid. "One day, I'll probably let you."

"That's nice to know." Lisbon rolled her eyes at him knowing that was never going to happen; but, it was fun to mess with Jane. "One day."

"Just say when." Jane watched her rise to her feet to root through his refrigerator before giving a triumphant squeal. "What are you after now?"

"What do you think?" Lisbon held up the deli bought Chile Con Queso and the bag of tortilla chips she'd known Jane would have on hand when she was coming over. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."

"And I know you're a bottomless pit." Jane watched her scoop out a generous serving of cheese sauce and enough tortilla chips to feed Wayne Rigsby before putting everything away. "You really should save room for dinner."

"Have you ever known me not to clean my plate?" Lisbon asked as she carried her take over to the table. "Want some?"

"No to both questions; but, I have often wondered how you eat so much and stay so small." Jane teased knowing she rarely over-indulged and when she did, she worked it off in the gym. "But, hey, it's fine with me if you want to make a pig of yourself."

"Oink, oink. That's a good thing." Lisbon immersed a chip in dip and carried it to her lips. "I skipped lunch today and I fully intend to make up for it."

"Go right ahead." Jane agreed filching a chip and slathering it in cheese. "I won't stand in your way."

"Good thing since I won't let you." Lisbon indiscreetly licked a smear of cheese off her fingertip. "I do have a question for you though."

"Ask away." Jane dipped another chip in cheese amused to watch Lisbon crunching out on two or three chips to his one.

"Why an Airstream?" She fixed him with a penetrating look. "You could have gotten a larger fifth wheel with pull outs and a more spacious feel if you'd wanted."

"Why do you think?" Jane answered her question with a question. "You should know."

"Other than the fact you didn't, I really don't know." Lisbon said. "I wouldn't have asked if I did."

"Recall everything you've learned about me over the years." Jane urged. "If you think things through, you'll figure it out. I clearly didn't want anything else."

"I guess you didn't." Lisbon fixed him with her patented "but that doesn't make sense" look. "It still doesn't tell me why you _did_ want an Airstream of all things. While a nice RV, it's still a sardine can compared to my place."

"But, it's still what I wanted." Jane studied the deep cassis liquid in his glass. "Besides, it's plenty of room for a single man."

"Jane, it's tiny." Lisbon said. "Compared to my place, it's little more than a metal closet. You don't even have a bathtub for goodness sakes."

That was clearly a fate worse than death in her opinion.

"Since I don't take baths, it isn't an issue." Jane's mouth tilted up as he fought laughing out loud at the taken aback look on her face. "I'm perfectly happy with my shower which is very nice by the way. There's plenty of hot water and the pressure is surprisingly good. You should try it some time."

"That's nice to know." Lisbon nearly choked on the unladylike slurp of wine she'd mindlessly gulped to mask the inappropriate nature of her thoughts. "I think I'm okay for the moment."

If he wasn't seeing things, and he wasn't, Lisbon eyes crossed briefly at his words. He didn't have to be a psychic to know the woman sitting across from him was quickly losing the battle against impure thoughts involving him and the boxy shower down the hall. It was wasted effort as far as he was concerned. Their relationship had been subtly changing in the weeks since they'd reconciled. If he could feel the difference, she had to as well. Adding to Lisbon's discomfort, this was probably not the first time she'd entertained such thoughts even if she'd vehemently deny it. Though he'd deny the truth at the moment as well, he'd had a few salacious thoughts in her direction over the years.

"Let me know if you change your mind." Jane's tone was more teasing than serious. "As for this place, it's nicer than anywhere I've lived in the past dozen years. It beats the hell out a solitary or a padded cell. Besides, the size of my new home really shouldn't bother you. You're rather tiny yourself so you fit right in."

Again, that was clearly a fate worse than death in her opinion.

"It doesn't." Lisbon dismissed his final comments. Jane knew how much she liked being called "tiny," especially by him. It didn't matter he liked her diminutive size (or that he wasn't that big himself.) She didn't. She'd spent the majority of her career busting her ass to outdo the boys and be taken seriously because of it.

"Really?" Jane watched Lisbon's hackles rise at the familiar smirk gracing his lips. "That's not how it sounds."

"Hey, I don't have to live here." Lisbon reminded him. "You do. But, that doesn't mean I'm not curious about your reasoning. Why you'd pick a travel trailer over a condo or a house. We both know the FBI would have given you anything you wanted within reason."

"Probably; but, I didn't want a condo or a house." Jane informed her. "Honestly, Lisbon, I'm appalled at your deductive abilities." He teased. "It should have taken more than a couple of years in the boonies babysitting the natives to dull your keen senses. You need to work on that. We work for the FBI now."

"Right." Lisbon snorted. "We both know you don't work for anyone."

"While you may be correct, they don't know that and I think that's in both of our best interests to keep it that way." Jane reached out to pat her hand. "I know you won't tell and, unless it becomes absolutely necessary, neither will I."

"I'm not saying anything." Lisbon agreed. "I'm hoping to get a few good paychecks behind me before you make them regret ever taking you on."

"You'll get a lot more than a few paychecks." Jane reassured her. "Don't forget, I solve cases and that's all that matters in the end. As for the other," Jane decided to put her out of her misery. "The answer is familiarity."

"Familiarity?" Lisbon gave him a puzzled look. "Oh." She'd clearly just recalled what she'd seen in carnie land the couple of times she'd been allowed to visit.

"You finally figured it out." Jane responded as the light went on in her head.

"You were raised in one." Lisbon was clearly having a "Duh!" moment. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"Most carnies are." Jane reminded her. "At least the ones I traveled with. It's the sardine can of choice no matter your position in the ranks."

Even in Angela's case except hers had been a whole lot newer, bigger, and nicer than the one he shared with his Dad.

"Angela, too, I suppose." Lisbon cast a glance at the ring still hugging his finger and wondered what happened to that whole "It's time" spiel. He'd clearly rethought his position over the course of his solitary confinement. Whatever, he'd take it off again when and if he was ready.

"Oh, yeah." Jane smiled a little remembering how hard it had been sneaking out the front door late at night. "It was a good thing her bed was by the door and her parents were heavy sleepers."

Oh, joy, as rough as her early life had been in a lot of respects, she'd never had to sleep on a bed created out of flipped over couch cushions.

"You were sneaking around?" Lisbon leaned in a little sensing a story. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

They certainly weren't getting it on with her parents a few feet down the hall.

"In the early days, yes, it was the only way we could see each other." Jane agreed. "It wasn't like my father would have approved my choice in dates any more than her family did. Angela wanted to leave the life as much as I did so she was a bad influence his eyes. As for her family, forget that I was a trained con…Most of us are…It was that I was a Jane and Alex Jane's son in particular. Not high recommendations on either side.

However, once we got caught, it didn't matter what anyone thought any more. We wouldn't stop seeing each other. Everyone finally threw up their hands in resignation and let us be. You know the rest of the story."

"Your wife was that stubborn?" Lisbon twirled her glass already knowing the answer to her question. "She'd have to be to handle you."

"She was a lot like you in that respect." Jane agreed. "Quite stubborn when necessary."

"Yeah?" Lisbon smirked as she took a sip of wine. "I guess she was a glutton for punishment, too, since neither of us left when the going was good."

"Low blow, Lisbon." Jane agreed smiling at his memories. "You know you'd be bored out of your mind if you did."

"Probably." She agreed. "What about your Mom? How did she feel about the two of you?"

Lisbon couldn't believe the question tumbling out of her mouth. While she knew a little about his father, Jane had never mentioned his other parent and she'd never asked. The subject had never felt any more open than it did now.

"She wasn't around." Jane didn't elaborate so Lisbon was clueless if she'd died as her mother had or if she'd abandoned her son to his father. For all she knew, it could be neither. "From the smell of things, I'd say dinner is ready."

"I think you're right." Lisbon agreed realizing he'd effectively closed the subject without really saying a thing. "I'll finish the salad while you take care of the rest."

"Sounds good." Jane said as he removed the roasting pan from the oven as Lisbon opened the refrigerator door. "By the time we're done with the salad the beef will be ready to cut."

"It smells delicious." Lisbon commented absently as she poured the homemade Caesar dressing over the salad. Tossing the ingredients together, she scooped the savory concoction onto two chilled salad plates before setting them on the table. "If you'll grab the bread, the salads are ready."

Lisbon watched Jane do as she requested before taking her seat at the table. Watching him settle across from her, she smiled. While the setting might be different, the scene wasn't. They'd done this a hundred times before.

#

You know, you're welcome to stay on my couch for a change." Jane commented referencing all the times he's crashed at Lisbon's pad. "Or, you can have the bed and I'll take the couch if you'd rather."

"I might take you up on the offer." Lisbon studied her glass of wine. "It's been a long day and I'm tired enough this is going to head more than usual." She tilted her glass for emphasis. "Yeah, I think I'll stay. If the company's good."

"The company's always good." Jane said. "You know that."

"Yeah, it is." Lisbon agreed taking another sip of wine as she watched Jane walk down the "hall" to remove something from a drawer.

"Here, you'll need this shirt." Jane fixed her with a knowing look. "But, you don't need to fib. We both know it would take a lot more than a glass and a half wine over two or three hours for you to feel anything. Especially given how much you've eaten. Just admit it. You want to stay and I like having you around."

He'd almost said, "And I want you to." but that statement was open to interpretations better left unsaid.

"I don't know what's gotten into you." Lisbon accepted the tee shirt. "Are you a pod person and where's the real Jane?"

"Real Jane…No pod people here." He admitted. "It's just been a long time since we've done anything like this and I've missed you."

The last time had been at her place with his "handlers" lurking in the shadows. The ambiance hadn't been the same. Now, he was a free man or as free as he could be. He wasn't foolish enough to think he wasn't being watched or his movements monitored. He most certainly was. There was probably a GPS tracking device attached to his trailer somewhere.

It was more that Abbott's dirty little spies were finally staying far enough away he could ignore their presence. He'd ignored Red John's tools for years. If he hadn't he couldn't have functioned so effectively. Now wasn't any different. As long as "they" stayed out of his personal life, he wouldn't put a lot of effort into to making their lives a living hell. If they didn't; well, all bets were off. They'd get out of his hair one way or another before he was done.

"I like being around." Lisbon agreed. "We have a lot of fun together."

"Good."Jane drained his glass before refilling it. "Then we're on the same page."

"I guess we are." Lisbon conceded.

"You don't have to stay out here." Jane casually remarked. "A queen sized bed is big enough for both of us you know…Perfectly innocent of course."

It wouldn't be the first time they'd shared a bed. Usually, he'd been too far gone in his grief and nightmares to care when Lisbon had taken him by the hand and led him to her room yet again. It wasn't like either of them thought anything inappropriate was going to happen. They didn't and it hadn't. In hindsight, their little forays into questionable behavior had simply been his constant holding him until he drifted into a troubled sleep. That she'd still been there when he'd opened his eyes the next morning was a testament to Lisbon's compassionate heart. She'd pulled him through many a rough patch over the years. It was only natural he'd want to return the favor.

The only problem was they weren't the same people now and he doubted things would be quite so innocent. From the look on Lisbon's face, she felt the same. From what he could see neither of them was interested in finding out at the moment.

"I don't think so." Lisbon said not thinking that wise at all. Not with Jane looking as good as he had all evening. "However, I would like to use your bathroom to change so we can finish our wine and watch that movie you promised me."

"Go right ahead." Jane gestured in the direction of the hall. "Why don't you use my bedroom instead? There's a lot more room. I'll change into my pajamas out here while you do."

"I can do that." Walking into the bedroom, Lisbon slid the privacy door closed behind her and quickly changed into the tee shirt. "You decent?"

"Yes, Lisbon, I'm decent." Jane watched the door slide open. "Are you?"

"Yeah, I think so." Lisbon's tone said she wasn't so sure. "I'm not sure how I feel about this."

"You're adequately covered." Jane said hoping she wouldn't have the sudden urge to slip back into her jeans.

He was enjoying looking at her legs.

"If you say so." Lisbon laid her neatly folded clothes on the dinette seat.

"I say so." Jane stated firmly. "What do you say to watching that movie now?"

"Works for me." Lisbon grabbed both wine glasses en route to the couch.

Settling into her corner she waited for Jane to join her. Grabbing the remotes, he settled in beside her as Lisbon subconsciously leaned into him. Flicking the television on, he found the right channel and started the movie.

Tamping down on the part of her that felt just plain weird sitting on the couch by Jane wearing nothing but an oversized tee shirt, Lisbon reminded herself the man had seen her in various states of dress over the years including bottom bearing hospital gowns more than once. Besides, she was more than adequately covered at the moment even if she had shucked her blue jeans a while ago. It wasn't like she was wearing revealing undergarments. Her serviceable panties and bra weren't showing as much as a bikini would and she'd never hesitated to wear one of those. Added to that, even though Jane wasn't that much taller than her, the shirt he'd given her still fell almost to her knees so it was obviously long on him. Lisbon reluctantly admitted she was being ridiculous. He'd seen more skin years ago when they'd been hanging Dr. Carmine on his own petard.

"Watch the movie, Lisbon, or I'm going to eat your crisp as well as mine." Jane chastised her as he dragged her bare legs across his.

"Touch my crisp and you'll die." Lisbon snapped as she grabbed her whipped cream laden apple crisp protectively. "It's mine."

"Then stop all the wiggling. I can assure you that I can't see a thing I shouldn't. Even if I could I certainly wouldn't mind." Jane informed her running his hand over her calves. He wouldn't mind and he wouldn't tell her if he could either. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, My Dear, you're a lovely woman."

"Hush, Jane." Lisbon responded as she had a million times over the years. "We aren't crossing those lines."

"Why not?" Jane asked idly more out of curiosity than anything else. "I don't work for you anymore."

"No, you don't; but, we still work together." And the lines were even murkier than before when he'd _supposedly_ worked for her and hadn't. "There's also the fact you're still wearing that."

Lisbon tipped her head in the direction of his ring finger. She wasn't inching a blink past friendship as long as that circle of gold still gleamed against his skin. She wasn't a fool and that would be beyond foolish. Not that she was sure either of them wanted to anyway. They certainly hadn't discussed it.

"Yes, we do." Jane agreed. "Personally, I don't see the problem. As for this, we'll talk about it later." Jane wiggled his finger. "Right now we have a movie to watch."

Gesturing to the opening credits, he directed their attention back to the newest Hobbit movie. It was only fitting this was film they'd settled on. They'd watched the whole Ring Trilogy at Lisbon's place life time ago and the first Hobbit movie more recently. Personally, Jane thought it beat the hell out of another chick flick or action movie.

"Works for me." Lisbon said as she rested her head against Jane's shoulder deciding she was much too weary for a serious conversation anyway.

The movie seemed like way more fun.

She purposefully ignored the part of her thinking this whole situation felt a too much like a date anyway. There was plenty of time to deal with reality later. Besides, nothing could be farther from the truth and they both knew it. They were two friends enjoying an evening the same way they had a hundred times before and she'd leave it at that.

The future would take care of itself.

It always did.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: A big thanks Bookworm4479 for not allowing me to be lazy and sluff over _facts_. In the real world, the Hobbit movie I referenced isn't out on video yet so there's no way Lisbon and Jane can be watching it unless it's pirated. While I don't think Jane would have a problem with pirating a flick, I think Lisbon would so it isn't happening. Not with the FBI watching or even if they weren't.

So, for the purposes of this story, my fictional universe is far enough ahead of reality the movie has already gone to video so there isn't an issue. However, if the idea of Jane pirating videos works for you, you're free to imagine it your way. We all know how Jane can be and I like naughty Jane. I just happen to also think Lisbon would have to be a lot more dim witted than we know her to be for that scenario to work. She's a very smart woman in my opinion!

Oh, while I plastered a disclaimer on my profile page for all my stories since we all know who owns The Mentalist and it isn't me, I might as well remind you I don't own anything to do with Airstream travel trailers (that company has been around since long before I was born) or any other trademarked item that might appear in this story. Not a thing. ~Calla

#

Opening her eyes to the sound of pounding on the door, Lisbon threw her arms over her head and stretched like an overfed cat. Whoever that was could wait until she was good and ready to crawl out of her makeshift bed. She so wasn't rushing for anyone. Or, better yet, Jane could handle it. Yeah, that made more sense. It was his pad after all.

Wiggling down, Lisbon snorted at the ridiculousness of the comfy cocoon she was ensconced in. If anyone had told her she'd be making a bed out of Jane's dinette, she'd have said they were crazy. As it was, she was content to rest on a mattress created out of jamming the dinette seat cushions over the top of the lowered dining table. Who'd have thought such a thing possible? Not her. Not in a million years. But it worked. Surprisingly well. She'd slept like a baby until some rude person rained on her parade before it was time.

Maybe Jane wasn't such a fool for wanting his travel trailer. There seemed to be a lot of nifty tricks associated with RVs that really made them work. This one wasn't so bad anyway. While she might get claustrophobic if she had to live here 24/7, she'd had a blast the few hours she'd called it home.

Watching Jane walk from his bedroom to the door, Lisbon decided he didn't look half bad sleep rumpled and jammie clad. Now, if he'd just get rid of whoever that was so she could close her eyes again, the day would be perfect. From the sound of things, that wasn't happening. Sitting up, Lisbon dragged her hand through her hair before flipping the covers back. Rising slowly to her feet, she wasn't all that surprised to see Fischer stepping through the door.

While she wouldn't go so far as to think, "There goes the neighborhood," she'd hazard a guess their leisurely Saturday had just shot straight to hell.

Not only that, she wondered what the other woman was doing haunting an RV park in the middle of nowhere almost at the crack of dawn when a telephone call would suffice. She knew darned well it wasn't because the FBI couldn't reach them. Both she and Jane had had their cell phones on and within reach all night. They'd done so for years. They'd also made a point of checking them before retiring last night.

Shaking her head in a "will wonders never cease" kind of way, Lisbon decided the quandary they now found themselves in probably had more to do with Abbott's incessant need to micro manage the world than with anything common sense. It certainly wasn't because this little trek was Fischer's idea. She clearly wasn't any happier with her assignment than they were. Her boss had probably told her to get her rear in gear and personally escort Jane back to headquarters. That wasn't working out as planned. She was quickly discovering her presence wasn't necessary in a vaguely uncomfortable manner. Another brunette had everything under control already.

Lisbon harrumphed at the inanity of a situation so easily avoided. For one thing, Abbott could give it a rest. Jane had won this round. He would stick around for a while. He'd given his word, and in a twisted Jane way, that meant everything. It didn't mean he wouldn't cause plenty of trouble for everyone involved. That was a given. It did mean, however, as long as the FBI kept their word, he'd keep his in one fashion or another. That was as good as it got with Jane.

Lisbon had learned over the years it was good enough for her.

However, it seemed the FBI was another story. Everyone constantly getting their knickers in a knot, namely Abbott and his team, was immature and childish. If they weren't capable of handling their charge they shouldn't have taken him on. They should have just left him marinating on his tropical island. But, they hadn't.

So, the best advice she could give them was to don their big girl panties. Accept they were going to get taken more often than not. Oh, and don't expect to take Jane. That just didn't happen too often. Yes, the man solved cases; but, at a cost. Generally, he wreaked havoc and everyone else cleaned up the mess. That was the Jane way. Anything less was a deal breaker.

Too bad no one had listened when she tried to tell them someone always paid the piper and it was rarely Jane.

Nor did they hear her telling them half the battle of maintaining illusionary control of their charge was being the adult to his mischievous, overgrown child. Too doggone bad. She wasn't a 'Do as I say not as I do' kind of person. She practiced what she preached where her Mentalist was concerned. She'd learned the hard way. Anything less was courting disaster as Abbott was already doing. From what she could see, there was going to be a nasty mess for her to clean up before too long of one kind or another.

Sighing in resignation, Lisbon jumped to the obvious solution for making the current mess go away. _She'd_ get Jane where he needed to be by the time he needed to be there. It was the only workable answer. She wasn't about to leave him to the other woman. Lisbon was a mildly surprised at her possessive feelings. Jane didn't belong to her. He wasn't a piece of property and he wasn't _her_ Mentalist. As for Fischer's annoying presence, the Feeb was only doing her job. She was Jane's handler now.

Right, and everyone was welcome to keep telling themselves that. Any idiot could see the lay of the land in that direction. Even if the FBI wasn't willing to openly acknowledge what everyone knew. Jane's true handler had always been, and would always be, Lisbon. That's assuming anyone was stupid enough to believe he really had a handler in the first place. She knew better as did Cho. In fact, she was certain he'd said something that effect numerous times only to have it fall on dead ears.

Feeling eyes on her bare legs, Lisbon looked up to see Fischer giving her the once over from the top of her glorious bedhead going every which way to her not so freshly scrubbed face to her red tipped toenails and everything in between. She hoped the other woman got her eyes full with all that staring. It wasn't like she was indecent. Anyone could see she was wearing _all_ of her undergarments and Jane's tee shirt practically went to her knees. It was hardly seductive wear even by Lisbon's tomboy standards.

"Not involved huh?" Fisher stared at Lisbon's attire dubiously.

"Stop that." Lisbon motioned towards the tousled "bed" automatically defending her actions. "I slept over there." Her tone conveyed how much she resented any need to explain her actions to the other woman.

It wasn't necessary even if some part of her felt it was. Fischer had watched her crawl awkwardly from beneath the covers. More important, as she'd already reminded Jane several times, this was her life. She would decide what to do with it. If she'd decided not to sleep there, it wasn't any of Fischer's business. Ditto for Abbott. They needed to stay out of her personal space.

"It's a long way back across town." Lisbon's stance warned the other woman to carefully choose the next words exiting her mouth or there would be hell to pay. "Jane offered to let me stay."

"Whatever." Fischer dismissed the whole scene with a look that said it all.

If Lisbon wanted to lie, that was her business. The fairly innocuous scene she'd walked into didn't mean they hadn't been intimate earlier in the evening. Both Lisbon and Jane were smart enough to cover their tracks in case something unforeseen happened like her knocking on his door at 7:05 in the morning. If they'd truly wanted to keep their relationship a secret, Lisbon wouldn't have stayed over in the first place. She'd have kept the lines between them nice and crisp.

As it was, Fischer hadn't needed to see her car in Jane's driveway to know she'd stayed over. She knew the woman had arrived, bottle of wine and covered pan in hand, at 7:22 last night and she'd never left. Not that their indiscretions were of great concern. More like an interesting study in unprofessional behavior than anything else at the moment. They could bang like bunnies until the cows came home as long as they kept it discreet. She, nor anyone else, would try to stop them. As far as the Higher Ups were concerned, they already were and always had been, so why bother attempting to change the status quo. It didn't matter Cho maintained it wasn't true and never had been. What did he know? Those two wouldn't have told a subordinate they were sleeping together anyway. Until a couple of years ago, doing so was against several CBI rules and regulations.

"We've got a case." Fischer announced to no one in particular. "Abbott wants to see you in 90 minutes. Wiley should be finished with what he's working on by then."

"It'll take me longer than that." Lisbon said. "I wasn't planning on crashing last night so I need to go home and change."

"You've got your go bag." Jane gently reminded her. "I'm sure you have something appropriate in there."

"I guess I do." Lisbon was surprised she'd needed a reminder. "I'd forgotten about that. It's been a long time since I needed one. I don't think I left town once the whole time I was in my old job."

Fischer rolled her eyes at the impersonally personal conversation going on right in front of her leaving her out of the mix.

"Make it two hours…Cho just texted Wiley needs more time." Fischer said as she returned her phone to her pocket and turned to leave. "Don't be late." She barked over her shoulder as she closed the door hard behind her.

"That was a treat." Lisbon observed as she watched the Agent stomp to her vehicle, slide in, and slam the door before squealing her tires backing out of Jane's drive at a high rate of speed. "It's also exactly what I need on top of everything else."

"What was that all about?" Jane asked totally mystified by the strange conversation. Not that the exchange hadn't been interesting. It was. He'd always enjoyed watching spitfire Lisbon. "I'm assuming you know?"

"Oh, yeah, I know. Fischer cornered me at FBI headquarters back before I was offered a position. She asked if we were involved." Lisbon said. "I asked her what would make her ask such a thing and left it at that. What she just saw is going to open a subject we've already closed."

"You do realize, as you never gave her a straight answer, the subject was never really closed." Jane gently pointed out. "Closing the subject would have been firmly stating we weren't inappropriately involved in the past nor are we now. You didn't do that."

It was a betraying turn of events in his opinion. Subtle, but very revealing as such unconscious actions tended to be. Jane wondered briefly how he'd have answered the same question before quickly dismissing his thoughts knowing he'd probably have done the same. Answer evasively. There was something intangible between them slowly coming to life. Something they'd yet to confront that was dangerous, intriguing, and begging to be explored. Until they'd done that, it was also a situation best ignored by both of them.

"I'm not doing it now either." Lisbon said. "This isn't anyone's business but ours. She had no right to ask such a thing and I didn't owe her an answer. I'm here to work, not satisfy idle curiosities about us."

"Yes, you are." Jane agreed. "But, I can see where the FBI would want to know."

"There's nothing to know." Lisbon reminded him. "We're close friends and we work together."

"Yes, I suppose we are and we do." Jane agreed. "We'll figure out the rest as we go along."

Lisbon gave him a penetrating look before nodding her head. Neither of them was stupid. They both knew things were_ different_. They could _feel_ it. They just weren't ready to _address_ it yet. She certainly wasn't.

She wasn't about to tell Jane she'd cried when she'd gotten his telephone message. When she'd realized he was really gone. She'd told herself she was glad for him. That it was finally done. But, she was sad she hadn't gotten to share the moment. Not necessarily the "moment" moment so much as the aftermath. Seeing Jane actually kill MacAllister with his own two hands may have been a little much. Then again, probably not considering the "victim" was hardly a victim having left so many true victims behind.

She hadn't been prepared for how badly she'd missed Jane. Or to find her joy at receiving his letters far outweighed any worry they could be used to catch him. Jane was too wily not to have thought of that. Even if his letters were discovered and led the FBI to his front door, she'd known he'd be somewhere they couldn't touch him. She was right. However, she'd been as shocked to discover he'd willingly come back to the States as she'd been overjoyed to see him. She'd also known Jane had another move up his sleeve when it looked like Abbott had him cornered. While she'd not seen the maneuvers coming, she'd known Jane would win in the end. She hadn't been wrong.

Now, working with Jane without the threat of Red John hanging over their heads was creating a situation she wasn't quite sure how to handle. She'd figure it out eventually. She'd also be the first to admit it was a whole lot easier to overlook those "tingly" moments when she'd known he was out of reach. Even though he'd said and done things over those last couple of years in times of stress open to more intimate interpretations, she hadn't gone there. Not being sure how to take him, denial became her new best friend.

Things felt different now. In spite of the ring on his finger, Jane wasn't as untouchable as he'd once been. Unfortunately, her awareness of that was making her see and feel things she shouldn't. Things like Jane was an incredibly attractive man who might be attracted to her. There was just something about the way he looked at her. Something that was different, masculine, and _interested_. She was finding it harder and harder not to look back. But, now wasn't the time to explore such possibilities.

They were both in the midst of making their new lives work.

"Here." Jane broke into her erratic thoughts by offering her whatever he'd just reached into his closet to grab. "You're going to need these."

"You can't be serious? I didn't even know this stuff was missing." Lisbon took in the neatly hanging suit and blouse. "When did you raid my closet?"

"When I dropped by a couple of weeks ago to help you unpack." Jane answered honestly. "I knew you'd end up staying over eventually." Granted, it was usually him staying over at her place; but, it wasn't improbable the opposite might happen now that he had a comfy place of his own. "It seemed like a smart idea to be prepared for something unexpected like this."

"You better not have raided my underwear drawer." Lisbon growled recalling precisely when he'd had that opportunity for an impromptu foray into her personal domain. "As it is, I'm not sure whether to kiss you or kill you for being presumptuous."

Dismissing his smirky snort, she recalled the "Check Up" call she'd received from Tommy and Annie that evening. She hadn't wanted to be distracted by Jane making funny faces so she'd slipped away to her home office for a few minutes of peace presenting her guest with the perfect opportunity to pull this stunt. Come to think of it, he'd had a bit of a Cheshire Cat grin on his face when she'd emerged from seclusion. She hadn't given it too much thought at the time. That was her mistake.

If she'd taken a moment to look, she'd have known he'd been up to something.

"I drew the line at one suit." Jane agreed. "I decided you would kill me if I did anything more."

"You decided right." Lisbon informed him. "I have everything else I'll need in my go bag. It'll take me a minute to go out and get it."

"Since I've already had my shower, you can take yours now." Jane said still mildly surprised she hadn't awakened when the water came on. From the muzzy look on her face when he'd walked through, it was clear she'd still been asleep when Fischer started bamming on the door. "I'll get your go bag and leave it outside the door. By the time you're dressed, breakfast will be ready. We have plenty of time to eat and still get to the office on time."

He'd also have plenty of time to get dressed himself; but, he didn't have to tell Lisbon that. If her reaction last night to that whole shower discussion was any indication, she'd probably swallow her tongue. Not the best thing to happen at the moment.

"Sounds like a plan." Lisbon said as she made short work of returning the cushions to their proper place and raising the dinette table. "Give me a minute to straighten up."

"I'll take care of that." Jane motioned to the bedclothes and pillows piled on one seat. "You need to get started."

It would take a handful of minutes to fold all of that and put it in the storage units under the dinette seats.

"I can do that." Lisbon nodded as she headed for the shower grabbing a towel and washcloth along the way. "I'll be out in a few."

Watching her retreat behind the sliding door, Jane walked over to the refrigerator to remove eggs, milk, bread, and bacon before setting them on the counter. Hearing the shower turn on without any problems, he grabbed the keys off the counter and headed out to fetch Lisbon's well stocked go bag. Leaving it outside the door as promised, he retreated to the kitchen to fix her favorite breakfast.

She should be ready about the time it was done.

#

Putting the final touches on her makeup, Lisbon decided Jane was right. The shower across the hall wasn't half bad. In fact, it was much better than she'd expected. Returning her cosmetics pouch back to the go bag resting on the closed toilet lid, she took one last look at her reflection. She'd do in a pinch. She looked cool, crisp, and professional like she always did. Zipping her bag and dropping it in the hall, she exited the bathroom to walk the few steps to the galley where Jane had been busy at work if the delicious aromas wafting back were any indication.

"You made French toast and bacon." Lisbon reached around a fully clothed Jane to snag a slice of bacon. "I can't believe you didn't forget."

The man had been busy the last half hour or so. In addition to cooking breakfast, he'd also changed into a new pair of slacks and a button down while she was in the shower. The accompanying jacket was lying around somewhere even if she couldn't see it. Probably the gray one she really liked judging by the rest of his outfit. Lisbon resisted the urge to shake her head. While he certainly looked nice, she still wasn't used to the new Jane after so many years of the old one.

Grabbing a cup from the cabinet, Lisbon filled it from the carafe before adding cream and sugar. She'd expected the coffee if not the other. Taking a sip, she decided if she could make Jane's tea perfectly, he returned the favor with coffee. At the moment, she was in hazelnut caffeine heaven.

"What?" Jane asked. "That someone likes their French toast overstuffed with cinnamon laden caramelized bananas and slathered in lots of maple syrup?" He slid another slice of egg battered toast on her plate. "No, I didn't forget. How could I?"

While he wouldn't say it, he rarely forgot anything when Lisbon was involved.

"I'm impressed." Lisbon carried both plates over to the dinette. "This smells so good."

"Because it is." Jane placed the container of warmed maple syrup on the table. "You know that."

"Yes, I do; but, that isn't what's so impressive." Lisbon said watching him slide into the seat across from her. "It's probably been close to three or four years since we've made this."

"That's about right." Jane winced as she drowned her toast in syrup. "Abbott won't know what to do with you once that sugar rush hits."

"You may be right; but, it tastes so good." Lisbon said as she carried a forkful of egged bread and bananas to her lips. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had pure maple syrup?"

"A few years." Jane answered as he dribbled syrup over his toast knowing he could add more if he needed it. "Since the last time we did this."

"Yeah, probably." Lisbon agreed. "I mean we've had breakfast since then, but we both know those places either give you fake syrup or some kind of blend."

"I wouldn't do that to you." Jane smiled at her open enjoyment of drowned toast and crispy bacon. "Only a monster would deprive you of such pleasure."

"You think we could do this again?" Lisbon motioned towards the expensive three quarters full bottle of prime maple syrup. "It's not like you don't need to use that up."

"What do you think?" Jane smirked at her. "What do you say to pumpkin pancakes next go around?"

"Sounds good." Lisbon said. "We can do apple cinnamon after that."

"You have to make those." Jane reminded her. "Yours are better than mine."

"I can do that." Lisbon agreed looking at her almost empty plate and wondering how it got that way with all the talking going on. "But you make the pumpkin."

"Maybe we'll try sweet potato instead." Jane said. "I've almost got the recipe right."

Lisbon rolled her eyes thinking if he'd just leave the darned recipe alone everything would be all right; but, that wasn't happening with Jane. He always had to fix what wasn't broken. The fact he usually pulled it off in the end only fueled his recipe editing mania. Before he was done, everything had that uniquely personal "Jane" touch.

"Uh-Uh." Lisbon said remembering the disasters from the past. "I'm so not being your guinea pig again. Work the recipe out first, then we'll talk."

"I can do that." Jane said rising to his feet to top her cup off and grab his steeped cup of tea from the counter. "I'm finding apple pie spice works far better than pumpkin pie spice at the moment. The only question is if I like it spicier or if I should back off a bit."

"Let me know when you figure it out." Lisbon said. "Until then, don't even think about serving me any of your experiments."

"You like this." Jane said. "It was an experiment."

"Yeah, I do; but, you worked all the kinks out first." Lisbon said as she lifted her last bite of bacon to her lips. "It was delicious the first time."

"I was trying to get back in your good graces." Jane reluctantly reminded her. "That was one time I wasn't sure you were ever going to forgive me so I wasn't about to blow my one shot at absolution."

It had still taken another month of his best behavior to be fully restored to grace. The sad thing was he couldn't pinpoint _exactly_ what he'd done to make her so mad. Or, more likely, he didn't want to. He just remembered her reaction and how miserable he'd been. Given the timing, and the extremity of the situation, it had everything to do with Lorelei. Oh, well, it wasn't important. The moment had eventually passed.

"I wasn't sure I was going to either." Lisbon clearly recalled the incident better than he did and still found it slightly painful. "It took a while for me to put that whole Vegas incident into perspective; but, I finally did. That's all that matters."

Her tone conveyed that was all she was saying on the matter. That past was done and they weren't rehashing it. Lorelei would stay buried where she belonged. It was better for both of them.

"Yes, it is." Jane agreed. "Let me take care of our plates and we can go. We need to leave in a few minutes. If we don't, we'll be late and I know how much you like that."

"Not at all." Lisbon finished for him. "You wash and I'll dry. We'll get done faster."

Carrying her cup and plate to the sink, Lisbon waited patiently for Jane.

#

"What's going on, Cho?" Lisbon walked into the conference room followed by Jane pointedly ignoring the rest of the occupants since neither Fischer nor Abbott was present yet. "Bring us up to speed."

"Another serial crossing state lines." Cho said unnecessarily as Jane had already read her the file on the drive in. "Catches his victims unaware and shoots them dead. That's about all we know."

"Okay, so you still don't know any more than we do." Lisbon said. "Give us a few minutes to study those."

She nodded in the direction of the sparsely covered boards littering the front of the room noting Jane was already studying the evidence on display.

"I suppose she is a serial killer in the strictest sense." Jane stated as he stared at the evidence boards. "However, while you do have a nut job that's killed multiple people across several states over the last six months, that definition doesn't feel right." Jane said quietly. "Me, personally, I'd say you have more of an _opportunistic_ killer who's systematically taking out people she perceives are threats to something, or someone, she values. She isn't compelled to kill because she gets off on the killings. In her mind, she's getting them before they get her. I'd say she's a _desperate_ killer who feels backed against a wall."

"She's still a serial." Cho reminded him. "There's no getting around that."

"I don't suppose there is if you're a purist." Jane agreed. "That doesn't change the fact we need to change how we go about catching her. Forget everything you know about tracking serial killers. Until we figure out who, or what, she's trying to protect, we aren't stopping her. I'd suggest digging deeper into the lives of the victims until we find that illusive _something _they all have in common."

"We've already done that." Fischer said as she and Abbott stepped into the room. "That's what Wiley was doing. They have absolutely nothing in common."

"Oh, there's something or they wouldn't be dead." Jane snapped knowingly. "Dig deeper even if you have to offend some people. It always works for me."

"Why do you keep saying "she," Jane?" Abbott demanded stepping into Jane's personal space. "We've found nothing to suggest our killer is a woman. Though Agent Cho seems to agree with you, I don't. We aren't going off on a wild goose chase on this one. It's already generating too much press to make a mistake like that."

"Your killer is definitely female." Jane stated firmly. "The little forensics you have will support that. They'll also support the killings are more like hits than murders since a silenced handgun is used in every case. However, if you look closer, the kills are sloppier than a professional would ever make which also supports my theory. I'd say our girl did her homework. She learned the most efficient kill shots and practiced her craft at local shooting ranges. I'd say she was smart enough not to stay in any one place long enough for people to start asking questions about what she was doing. When she thought she was ready, she put her plan into action only to discover an actual kill was more difficult than target practice. How much do you want to bet that's what we'll find when catch her?"

"Only a fool takes a Jane bet." Cho quietly cautioned. "He always wins."

Abbott's answering snort conveyed he was FBI and he didn't do bets. Jane's smirk said he was chicken. Lisbon rolled her eyes hoping another pissing contest wasn't coming down the line. She wasn't in the mood.

They had too much work to do with another serial killer on the loose.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I work retail and I haven't had a day off in several days until yesterday. I'm also guilty of taking two or three hours I could have been working on this to toss off that Christmas OS I posted last night. My bad; but, I couldn't get in the mood to work on this without writing that. As always, thanks for the reviews and for enjoying this story.

Also a belated Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everyone!~Calla

#

Rooting through her closet, Lisbon couldn't help thinking, "Whoo hoo, on the road again!" She wasn't looking forward to this latest jaunt. Not at all and it wasn't even a road trip. The only positive thing about another cross country flight to view another grizzly murder scene was she got to sit by Jane. With a little luck, Abbott and Fischer would be seated far enough away to be out of sight and out of mind. Having Cho close she could handle; but, not those two. While the Feebs would watch their every move, her ex-Agent would just ignore them in favor of a book like he always did. Yep, Cho's antics she could live with.

Their case might be another matter.

As much as she hated admitting it, that was turning into a doozey. They'd only been at it three weeks and this was the second out of state trip they were taking. Not to mention the two legitimate road trips they'd made in the interim. Fortunately, in all instances, they were viewing old crime scenes, gathering facts, and conducting interviews. However, that would eventually change. She wasn't looking forward to the fresh crime scenes she knew were coming. Whoever this chick was, she had a strong stomach.

The woman believed in overkill and the carnage she left in her wake proved it.

"You need to get a move on." Jane poked his head through her bedroom door. "We're running out of time."

It shouldn't be taking Lisbon this long to toss a few things in a suitcase. They were only going to be gone two or three days, maybe a hair longer. She should have been packed and standing by the door when he arrived. It had taken him a good hour to swing by his place, pack his own bag, and drive back to her town house. He'd been here at least fifteen minutes and she still wasn't ready.

"Stop your grousing." Lisbon said. "I've only been up here a few minutes. You just got bored waiting and didn't want to make another cup of tea."

She'd used most of her time to check her emails and take a relaxing shower. It wasn't like she was running late. They had an hour and a half before they had to be at the airport and at least an hour's wait after that.

"Maybe." Jane agreed. "You're still taking too long."

"Back off, Buster, unless you want to pack for me." Lisbon snarked. "I take that back. You are so not packing for me."

The man wasn't getting anywhere near her underwear drawer. He could get his beady eyes heading in another direction. Some things were meant to remain forever secrets. She'd never asked if he wore boxers or briefs and he certainly wasn't seeing if she wore bikinis, hipsters, or thongs. That so wasn't happening.

"Too late, Lisbon, you've already made the offer." Jane said as nosed between her open closet doors. "Take this one with this blouse." He handed her a rarely worn navy suit with a deep claret dress tee. "And these." Lisbon took the more familiar black suit with the tiny pin stripes and the earthy gold tee matching the slivers of color in the jacket and pants.

"Why are you grabbing everything from the back of my closet?" Lisbon suddenly asked. "What I normally wear is in the front."

For one simple reason: those were the pieces she liked to wear.

"Because you rarely wear any of these and you should." Jane said. "The colors bring out the green in your eyes beautifully."

Lisbon bit back the automatic, "They do?" popping into her head. When had Jane noticed that? He'd never said anything before. Then again, who was she kidding? Those were just words. They didn't mean anything special. Jane noticed everything about everyone including her.

"Here's the last one." Jane handed her a nicely tailored black suit with fancy buttons and an embroidered collar and pockets that would go with everything. "Pack these as well and you're done even if we end up staying a day or two longer than originally planned."

Lisbon took the four dress microfiber tee shirts ranging in color from the purest scarlet to the deepest plum to a rich reddish cinnamon brown and a deep olive green. Reaching into the closet she grabbed her favorite dark bottle green tee to add to the eclectic mix in her hand. Most of the colors weren't what she usually wore; but, they'd caught her eye at some point or they wouldn't be hanging in her closet. She clearly hadn't returned them to the store even if they had the tags still on them.

Surveying Jane's selections, Lisbon determined he'd done a good job with the whole mix and match theme. He'd also picked wrinkle resistant fabrics that would pack well. She could easily get by for eight or ten days without doing a thing beyond rotating her four suits counting the one she was wearing. Quickly shoving the pieces into her garment bag, Lisbon took one last look around her bedroom before closing her closet doors. Silently stowing the dressier black heels that Jane had chosen in her bag, Lisbon decided she was done. She had no idea what Jane was up to with that last suit and those shoes, but she wasn't about to ask.

"Thanks for your help." Lisbon said quietly as she turned off the bathroom light. "Fifteen minutes, one small carry on, a garment bag, and we're done."

"I suppose we are." Jane agreed. "I hope you have a shirt or two in there in case they lose your luggage between here and Newark."

Jane pointed to the smaller carry on case.

"What do you think?" Lisbon asked as she slid the strap over her shoulder. "This isn't my first out-of-stater."

There was a reason she was wearing another plain black suit with a cobalt top and it wasn't because the colors brought out her eyes. It was because the suit would go with everything she had in her carry on if her luggage went missing. She'd learned that lesson the hard way and packed accordingly.

Her carry on contained cosmetics, toiletries, clean underwear, and three wrinkle free tees similar to the ones Jane had given her to put in her garment bag as well. Enough stuff to get her through the duration of the trip as long as they weren't detained any more than the two or three days everyone expected without making use of the hotel laundry. It had only taken losing her luggage once to learn her lesson about always being prepared. Fortunately, that debacle had taken place long before her career in law enforcement really began. She'd been a rookie headed to her first forensics seminar and gotten stuck wearing the same outfit for two days before her luggage was finally "found."

"I guess it isn't." Jane glanced at his watch. "If we get a move on, we have time to make a quick sandwich and raid that bag of chips you keep in the pantry."

"We do, do we?" Lisbon fixed him with a glare knowing she wouldn't be at all surprised if he'd already made those sandwiches. "What about stopping by a burger joint instead?"

"It's better to use what you have here so it doesn't go bad." Jane reminded her. "We may be detained longer than we expect. There's no telling with these things. You know that."

Yes, she did, and Jane was unfortunately right.

"I'm betting you already have those sandwiches made and a big pile of chips on our plates." Lisbon's brow rose at his answering smirk. Jane really was getting too familiar with _her_ home to suit her. Not that she really expected anything different. He'd never been that great with personal boundaries in the first place. Not where she was involved. "You're too much, you know that?"

"I know you love my sandwiches." Jane reminded her. "I'll take your bag downstairs while you get whatever you want to drink. The food is already on the table."

At her breakfast bar was more likely; but, she wasn't correcting him. Mumbling under her breath, Lisbon watched Jane grab her garment bag before following him down the stairs. Handing off her carry on, she ambled into the kitchen to pour a glass of tea. She might as well just suck it up. Jane wasn't changing any time soon. She'd learned a long time ago to take the good with the bad where her Mentalist was concerned.

She'd go insane if she didn't.

Carrying her glass over to where their plates were waiting at the bar, Lisbon was mildly surprised to see that Jane had stopped en route to grab a container of one of her favorite homemade soups from the local deli. She hadn't expected that. The neatly overstuffed half an enormous roast beef sandwich slathered with horseradish, mustard, and mayo accompanied by a generous heap of potato chips filling each plate were a given. The steaming cups of Broccoli Cheddar soup were unexpected; but welcome. Taking her seat, Lisbon waited patiently for Jane to join her.

"We aren't getting anywhere with the case are we?" She more observed than asked before nibbling a chip. "Nowhere fast anyway."

"We will." Jane took a sip of tea. "This is only the fourth murder in three different states in the past year. The local PD's have just connected the dots enough to realize their cases are interrelated. We've only been involved a few weeks. As much as I hate to say it, we need a fresh kill that hasn't been contaminated by incompetence before we'll start getting anywhere."

"As much as I hate to say it, I agree." Lisbon carried a spoon of soup to her lips. "While I don't think the local PD's have been incompetent, most of them don't have a lot of experience with serial killers."

"I rest my case." Jane stared at his sandwich. "They're incompetent."

"Inexperienced." Lisbon corrected. "That's two different things."

"Whether it's inexperience or incompetence doesn't change the fact we're working with botched crime scenes and shoddy forensics." Jane reminded her. "Those subtle little nuances that would tell me so much have been disturbed or trampled away by well meaning professionals. Those are things we can never get back."

Knowing he was right, Lisbon didn't say a thing.

"I hate to think someone else has to die before we make any headway." Lisbon dragged her spoon through her soup like a ten year old. "We need a break and we need one soon."

"I hate it, too." Jane reached over to halt the hand idly playing with her food. "Maybe we'll get lucky at this last crime scene. Maybe it won't come to another murder or two. No one can predict these things. You know that."

"What I know is she's being very careful." Lisbon said. "I also know these people are all scientists which could be a link if they weren't all working on different projects. I know she only kills her target and not their families. I know she slaughters them at home since the office would be too risky. I also know she has to spend time observing each of her victims and their habits. She wouldn't be able to strike when they were alone otherwise. I know she's cruel to let their families come home to such a horrendous sight."

"You also know vital pieces of information are being kept from us." Jane said quietly. "In fact, the very pieces that would let us solve this case."

"What do you mean?" Lisbon asked. "I don't know any such thing."

"You're very good at what you do." Jane gently reminded her. "One of the best I'd say so stop playing games with yourself. You've already figured out the victims aren't quite what they seem and those so called 'miracle cures' they were supposedly working on were fabricated.

The truth is relatively simple. Our victims were all working on one of those hazy, government related, "need to know" projects that no one has deemed us worthy of needing to know just yet. While losing four of their scientists is a blow, these guys were all lower level grunts not crucial to achieving their overall goal. I'd also say their more important assets are probably well guarded by now. We won't be seeing another murder any time soon unless someone slips up on the protection detail."

"I think you're probably right." Lisbon agreed. "So, what's our next move?"

"You're still in contact with Rigsby and Van Pelt?" Jane already knew the answer.

"What do you think?" Lisbon asked. "I'm Maddy's godmother."

"More importantly, you're still close friends." Jane said.

"Yes, we are." Lisbon agreed. "I might not see them anymore; but, we stay in touch."

"Good." Jane carried their empty plates over to the sink for a quick wash and dry before putting them away. "Call Grace and tell her we need her help. Get her cracking on finding out anything she can about covert government projects any of our victims might have been involved in. If anyone can find a connection, she can. Tell her to keep track of her billable hours. She'll be compensated for her time."

"I don't know about that." Lisbon said watching Jane settle back in his seat. "I'm not sure that's such a smart move. What if they get caught?"

"Oh, come on, Lisbon, those two live for this kind of thing." Jane reminded her. "I'm not asking Grace to do anything more than she used to do at the CBI. I don't expect her to hack into secret government databases. All I'm asking her to do is some judicious snooping like she used to do. To discover that illusive needle in the haystack we will probably find on our own eventually that she can find faster. "

"I guess you aren't." Lisbon agreed. "But what about this whole billable hours thing? Do you intend to pay her or are you planning on passing the expense on to the FBI in some underhanded way?"

"I honestly don't know." Jane said. "We'll have to wait and see; but, I assure you that Grace will get paid one way or another."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Lisbon rolled her eyes. "You're going to stick it to the FBI."

"Probably." Jane agreed. "The only two things that really matter are we need Grace's help and she needs to get paid for her services. Let me worry about the how. I'll take care of everything."

"Again, that's what I'm afraid of." Lisbon smirked around her glass as she drank the last of her tea. "We need to get a move on if we don't want to be late."

"We still have a few minutes." Jane said taking her glass and his empty cup. "I'll finish washing up while you finish whatever you need to do. We'll leave when you're ready."

"You know that's not much of an incentive to hurry." Lisbon said as she rose to her feet. "Not when I don't really want to go."

The truth was, she didn't mind the trip at all. She just wasn't looking forward to the crime scene and seeing blood everywhere. There was something about this woman's murders that made her stomach churn. Mostly that she was female and she was capable of such gruesome kills.

"Then you need to look at it the way I do." Jane said as he put the clean glass away. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we can return home."

"On second thought, that might do the trick." Lisbon said as she headed for the guest bathroom. "I'll be right back."

"I'll still be here." Jane said as he watched her leave fully understanding Lisbon's reluctance to view yet another crime scene.

While he kept reminding Lisbon their perp was desperate, she was also ruthless and twisted. She clearly felt justified in toying with her victims before she put them out of their misery. Not unlike Lorelei on her last rampage only worse. This woman made several strategically painful injuries in her victims before mercifully ending their suffering by blowing their faces off. Jane was sure there was some nasty psychological twist in there that would make perfect sense when they unraveled her motives. At the moment, he didn't want to think about it.

There were too many unpleasant possibilities he didn't want in his head that could all be wrong.

#

Walking through the front door, Lisbon glanced over her shoulder to make sure Jane was following. Cho and the rest of the team were milling about other places which meant she and Jane were being left to their own devices. They'd elected to come here instead of tagging along with everyone else. Right now all she wanted to do was check over the crime scene, take a few photographs sans bodies and gore, make a few notes, and head back to their borrowed offices. With any luck Abbott would cut them loose early so they could get a fresh start in the morning. She was already beginning to lag from the flight.

"Are you sure she's a woman?" Lisbon asked gazing at the dried blood splatter and organic tissue smeared across the wall. She hoped to goodness she wasn't staring at dried bits of brain matter and had every idea she was. "She's vicious if she is."

"Threatened." Jane corrected again. "Feeling that way tends to lead one towards desperate measures."

Like choking the life out a man with your bare hands….

"So you're still convinced?" Lisbon asked again. "Though Abbott and Fischer both believe otherwise?"

"What do they know?" Jane asked. "Yes, I still think she's a woman. The evidence hasn't given me any reason to change my mind."

"Then she's a woman." Lisbon agreed. "Cho thinks so, too."

"What about you?" Jane asked softly. "Which side do you fall down on?"

"The one that's right." Lisbon said. "I've already said I'm with you and Cho even if a part of me rebels at the thought a woman could leave this behind." She gestured to the blood soaked carpet and splatter covered walls. "Their deaths were so violent."

"Several high caliber bullets strategically placed tend to rip a person apart bit by bit." Jane commented casually. "It doesn't matter whether it's a man or a woman doing the shooting. However, in this case, I'm sure it's a woman for the reasons I've already stated."

"I don't disagree." Lisbon said. "You were right. The little bit of forensics we have supports that theory. There's that one hair we found in the second victim's house that didn't belong to his wife or his daughters. It definitely belongs to a female. Unfortunately, it was recently dyed and the DNA extracted from the follicle isn't in any of the criminal databases. So, it could or couldn't belong to our killer."

"We both know it probably does." Jane commented. "If a twin shows up at any of the other crimes scenes we'll know it does."

"That's all fine and dandy; but, it's not going to help us until we solve the case." Lisbon reminded him. "We need a useful break to help us find her, not identify her after the fact."

They already had plenty of identifiers…like she was left handed and probably about Lisbon's height and size.

"When we do find her, that hair will put the final nail in her coffin." Jane ignored the rest of Lisbon's rant. "So, it's still a valuable piece of the puzzle. It also tells us we're looking for a blonde unless she dyes her hair again."

"I'd say under the circumstances that's highly likely if she hasn't already." Lisbon said following Jane into the home office. "Unless we get another hair with a follicle it's basically useless anyway."

"Let's don't look for trouble before we have it." Jane said softly as he nosed around the floor to ceiling bookshelves. "I know they have the computer hard drives in custody already; but, I'll bet no one bothered to look here."

"What are you expecting to find?" Lisbon walked over the stand beside Jane somewhat surprised when he pulled her over to stand in front of him with his hands on her shoulders. "There's nothing here but a bunch of work related science books."

"Isn't there?" Jane asked. "Look again."

"Wait a minute." Lisbon pointed towards one of thinner books that didn't seem so out of place given there was several of them spaced between the scientific tomes; but, definitely was when she took in the subject matter. "Those coffee table books are out of place."

"I'd say they are." Jane agreed. "Not to the average person since there's more than one or two of them scattered throughout; but, between you and me, I'd say they definitely are." Reaching out, Jane removed a volume on rose gardening and flipped through the pages commenting every now and then on the beautiful pictures.

"There's nothing there." Lisbon's tone was disappointed.

"No, there isn't." Jane agreed as he reached for a second book on medieval castles. "That doesn't mean there won't be something here."

"I guess it doesn't." Lisbon agreed as she thumbed through the book she'd pulled from the shelf. "Hey, Jane, look at this." She removed several books before reaching under the shelf. "I think this might be what we're looking for." Holding out her hand, she opened the small envelope to dump the clear pink USB Flash Drive into her hand. "That's a pretty nifty trick staining the envelope to match the shelf it was taped to and using the coffee table books to mark the location. I bet we'll find more of these if we check out the rest of those."

She motioned towards the other books.

"I bet we will." Jane agreed. "Good job, Lisbon, now give me that."

"That's evidence, Jane." Lisbon's voice took on the familiar warning tone. "We have to turn it in."

"Yes, we do." Jane said. "After we see what's on it. If we turn it in now, we'll never know what's on there and more people will die before someone decides we really can't do our jobs in the dark. I give you my word we'll do the right thing once we get that break we need."

"You promise." Lisbon's tone was dubious.

"Cross my heart." Jane vowed fully intending to keep his vow unless a good reason not to presented itself. "You know we can't make evidence disappear." But, they could delay its coming to light until they had their copy in hand.

"What are you going to do?" Lisbon asked. "Walk up to Abbott and give him the Flash Drive tomorrow?"

"Hardly." Jane said. "I think we'll let Cho discover this nifty little envelope later today."

"I'm not going to ask how you're going to do that." Lisbon said quietly as she removed another book and felt under the shelf only to return the book to its former position when nothing of interest turned up. "I don't think I want to know."

"It's not that difficult." Jane said as he pulled out a book of his own and removed the small envelope from beneath the shelf. "Here's the second one." He tipped the envelope into Lisbon's palm. "All we have to do is come up with some cockamamie reason to drag Cho back out here like I suddenly remembered something I forgot to check out earlier. You keep him occupied upstairs for a few moments while I return these little beauties. When you come back downstairs, I'll mention something about one of the books looking out of place. Cho will snort at me like I'm crazy before he walks over to remove the book and nose around just to prove how totally lame my latest theory is when he'll suddenly find this." Jane held out the small bit of purple plastic.

"It sounds much too easy." Lisbon said. "That's usually when your plans go terribly wrong."

"It's never as easy as it sounds, Lisbon, you know that." Jane said. "But, it will work and Cho can be the hero for a change."

"You're hardly a hero." Lisbon snorted as she removed yet a third device from beneath the shelf. "I think we've found them all."

"I think you're right." Jane agreed slipping the last device in his pocket. "If you aren't, Abbott will find the rest by the time they tear this place apart after Cho makes his discovery."

"You honestly don't think Abbott or Fischer will find that whole scheme with Cho fishy?" Lisbon asked as she stepped back to make sure they were leaving everything exactly as they found it. "I do."

"It doesn't matter if they think it's fishy, My Dear." Jane stepped back taking one last perusal of their handiwork. "All that matters is they can't prove it. I'd say it's safe to go now. We still have a lot of work to do."

"I guess we do." Lisbon said as she followed Jane out the front door. "You do know that data is probably encrypted."

"That's why we have Grace and her billable hours." Jane said as though that was the least of his trouble. "The main worry we have the moment is the best way to purchase several flash devices without leaving a trail behind."

"That's going to be hard to do." Lisbon said. "Even if we use cash, there are always the security cameras to get around."

"On second thought, it's not a problem." Jane pulled his phone from his pocket, made a call, and hit the end button before Lisbon fully realized what was happening. "It's all taken care of."

"It's all taken care of?" Lisbon asked. "You can't be serious."

"Sure, I am." Jane reassured her. "I just called in a favor from a friend of a friend that owes me a big one. What we need will be waiting in our hotel room in an hour."

"I don't want to know anything about this do I?" Lisbon asked as she slid into the driver's seat. "It's more of the same old same old isn't it?"

"Probably not and I'd say so." Jane agreed. "Trust me, Lisbon, everything will be all right."

"Fine." Lisbon said as she turned the key in the ignition. "Just don't make me regret it like I usually do."

Jane's only response was that familiar roguish grin saying the game was afoot. Lisbon hoped they were finally making a winning move. If they weren't, all hell was about to break loose. She wasn't feeling all that secure in Jane's latest play. On the one hand, tampering with evidence could blow up in their faces big time. On the other, it could break the case wide open. What was a girl supposed to do in a situation like this?

As usual, she'd take her chances with Jane.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you for the reviews of the last chapter and on my two holiday one shots! Now, on with the story.~Calla

#

Sniffing the cylindrical canister in her hand, Lisbon wasn't sure exactly what was in this blend beyond Oolong leaves. It smelled like the typical chai spice blend of star anise, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and a dash of pepper with citrusy overtones. Just what those citrusy overtones were was beyond her. There were lemons without a doubt; but, not your normal supermarket oranges since the scent was off. Maybe tangerines and some exotic orange like Mandarin or Blood. Jane would know. But, she didn't. Whatever it was, the scent was pleasant and the taste equally pleasant she was sure.

Taking another sniff, Lisbon realized she could have stuck to one of the normal teas like Earl Grey or Green and Jane would have been equally happy. She hadn't. She'd thought since he'd given over the whole precious top shelf in his tiny pull out pantry to various blends of both exotic and mainstream teas, she might as well pick one more off the beaten path. Not the white tea blend he kept for her with the cranberries, cherries, and luscious dried rose petals. That was a little on the sissy side for a man. But, one of the more robust blends instead which was exactly what she'd done.

Putting the lid back on the tin of loose tea leaves and returning it to the pantry, Lisbon went about her business of making the perfect cup of tea by pouring hot water over the filled tea strainer. There really wasn't much else to do but stand around waiting. Her coffee was brewing in the pot and Jane's tea was steeping in his cup. In a matter of moments she'd be carrying both drinks over to the table to see what was actually going on. She seriously doubted anything much. They'd spent most of the day futilely trying to crack whatever was on those flash drives they'd discovered without any notable successes.

The originals, not the _copies_ Jane had dutifully allowed Cho to find and turn in. They couldn't risk something getting missed in the duplication so they'd elected to pass the _second _set of brightly colored electronics on to the Feds instead of the ones they'd initially found. She didn't know how he'd managed to get the information replicated so fast, and she didn't want to know. All that mattered was he had and they seemed flawless. No one had caught onto their ploy and she hoped they didn't. They'd be in a world of hurt if anyone did.

"Anything yet?" Lisbon rested her hand lightly on Jane's shoulder as she leaned over to stare at the computer screen.

While she didn't know exactly what the going on, she knew she was watching a highly specialized program doing what it was created to do. Namely going through the complex motions of decrypting the encrypted information from those flash drives faster than her eye could see. She got the gist of the operations if not the specifics. What she didn't get was how Jane ended up with such a program in his possession…Actually more than one from what she could see…Not considering they weren't the easiest to get your hands on. Not programs of that caliber. They were usually reserved for the government or hackers. That was the part she was scared of. She was clueless and she wasn't about to ask. It was in her best interests not to. Jane had his "special" ways few of which were on the up and up.

Besides, how those programs came to be in his possession in the first place probably had far more to do with deciphering the disk they'd gotten from Bertram's place than with their current case. The one Jane and the FBI were pitting against each other. Right now, her Mentalist had the power; but, things would quickly flip if the Feds ever realized the information he'd promised was basically worthless in its current form. It was in Jane's best interest to get a head start on breaking that code and revealing those names even if he had to keep his discoveries secret until the proper time for unveiling.

Five years really wasn't that long in the big scheme of things.

"What do you think?" Absently patting her hand, Jane motioned towards the screen still looking like so much gobbledygook. "I hope Grace is having better luck."

"She'll let us know if she is." Lisbon hoped she was having better luck, too. "I brought you a cup of tea."

Handing the cup off, Lisbon took her seat across the table from Jane. Their trip to Newark had yielded little beyond the hidden files they were currently working on. Now, they were camping out at his place messing with that cipher when they weren't at the office. In fact, she'd gotten that whole making a bed out of the dinette down to a fine art over the past couple of nights. As much as she'd rather be at her place which was larger, Jane's was safer considering what they were up to for one simple reason: No one really wanted to deal with his booby traps any more.

Not after the first couple of times Abbott's men attempted covertly searching his place while he was working a case. It really hadn't turned out so great for any of the agents involved. They'd all ended up with hefty dry cleaner bills on the up side and a couple of agents had ended up at the Emergency Room on the down if rumors were true. It certainly wasn't worth the repeated aggravation only to come up empty handed. They hadn't found anything criminal as they'd hoped and expected.

Miracle of miracles, it seemed Jane was walking the straight and narrow for however long it lasted. Lisbon wasn't holding her breath on that one. He'd be getting into mischief before she knew it.

He was already showing signs of being the old Jane again. The maverick keeping everyone out of the loop until the last possible second. The very one hoping back up would arrive in time to pull his sorry butt out of the fire before anything bad happened to him. While annoying, this was a Jane she was familiar with and one she could handle. In fact, she knew him well enough to know when to leave him alone because he was up to something. Take that whole Crystal the drug lord caper…She'd seen right through it even if Fischer hadn't…What could she say? It was classic Jane and _she_ could live with him.

The Feds might be another matter.

Maybe she'd give Fischer a hint. Something simple along the lines of it the ring's still on, it isn't a date. He's up to something. Shaking out of her thoughts, Lisbon surveyed her surroundings. All in all, she really didn't mind hanging out in a silver sardine can as long as she was with Jane. It was kind of fun. Besides, she was enjoying the company and the easy camaraderie flowing between them. At the moment, things were actually better than old times. More natural and real than they'd felt in a very long time. Maybe not more real than that day she'd brought Jane socks in solitary and informed him they'd be working together. That was one of those priceless moments never to be repeated. But, close enough.

What mattered the most was she no longer struggled to keep Jane from getting lost in the darkness that was Red John and Jane no longer fought to keep himself tightly locked in that box he'd trapped himself in long before they'd ever met. They were both a lot freer than they'd ever been.

In spite of Abbott, Fischer, and the Feds best efforts to keep them confined.

The only bad thing she could see still going on was Jane was wearing that ring it was long past time he got rid of. Not tossed away or forgotten; nothing so crass. More like removed and put away for safekeeping as all priceless treasures should be. But, she'd never intimate such a thing to him.

It wasn't her place.

"Thanks." Jane took a sip of his tea. "I don't think we're going to hear from Grace any time soon. I don't think Rigsby's letting her work on this much if at all. She's probably sneaking around when he's not looking in the best case scenario."

Jane clearly expected Wayne to run some kind of interference between his wife and them. Lisbon suspected he was right. She also suspected his objections were falling on deaf ears. While her old agent hadn't been overjoyed at the prospect of decrypting a secret government file, his wife had jumped at the chance to test her newest software. Security was their business and this was a prime opportunity to expand their knowledge base.

Besides, Van Pelt thought it might be fun and said as much. Their usual jobs had been on the dull side lately. This was more like the old times they all missed even if Rigsby wouldn't admit it. He was too invested in the tried and true being stable and providing for his family rut to be a risk taker. He'd become a responsible man and she loved him for it. But, they needed a little spark of excitement every now and then or they'd turn into a couple of old fuddy duds before their time. This was just what the doctor ordered. It was nothing too dangerous while still titillating and clandestine. Who could ask for more?

Lisbon smiled at her memories as she caught Jane's weary eye.

"What do you say to calling it a day?" He asked as he turned his laptop off and shut it down. "If we hurry, there's a Poker game starting in about twenty minutes down at Ben's place."

"You've already found a Poker game?" Lisbon's brow rose slightly at her question. "Do they know you cheat?"

"We all cheat." Jane admitted. "I just do it better than the rest."

"And you want me to play a few hands of Poker with a table full of confirmed swindlers like you?" Lisbon fought to keep a straight face. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Yes, Lisbon, I do." Jane agreed. "Unless you're too rusty to rise to the challenge. It has been a few years since you've played."

"That's what you think." Lisbon's tone said she was raring for a fight. "I can cheat with the best of you."

"Really?" Jane's brow rose at her words. "Since when did you start cheating at cards?"

"Since I had three brothers and a Deputy PC who'd give you a run for your money." Lisbon admitted. "A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. Besides, I play to win. I work too hard to hand my paycheck over to you without putting forth a decent fight."

"Well, well, live and learn." Shaking his head, Jane looked at her with a new level of respect. "Who knew Teresa Lisbon was a card shark?"

"Only when I have to be." She set him straight. "From what you just said, I don't have much choice. Surely you don't expect me to play it straight when no one else is? I'm giving as good as I get and I'm not apologizing."

"I expect nothing less." Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, Jane walked over to his closet to remove their coats leaving a perplexed Lisbon to ponder what all those crazy little touches and pseudo kisses he'd been indulging in for the past few days meant. "While it's not that cold at the moment, the temperature is rapidly dropping. I'd say it'll be fairly nippy before we're done."

"I'd say you're right." Lisbon agreed allowing him to help her into her black leather jacket. "Now, tell me about this Ben and the rest of the players."

"What do you want to know?" Jane asked not sure he was willing to tell her.

"What do you think?" Lisbon asked. "Everything you know."

"Now why would I give up an advantage?" Jane asked as he grabbed a bag containing homemade chips and dip from his favorite deli before locking the door behind them. "You should have to figure it out the way I did."

Silence hung in the air as they walked past several well lit trailers while Lisbon mulled his words.

"Don't worry." Lisbon finally said as Jane maneuvered her onto a path cutting sharply to their right. "I can do that."

"I'm sure you can and it'll be interesting to watch." Jane agreed spotting the well lit luxury RV ahead of them. "I will tell you this much. The guys all have visible tells if you look closely. You're a smart girl. You'll figure them out in the first few minutes."

"That's all I need to know." Lisbon agreed as she straightened her jacket. "Wow, that's a nice place. I'd say your friend Ben has money. Those things don't come cheap." She nodded in the direction of the deceptively plain travel trailer knowing the inside was where all the money went.

That particular RV was upwards of three quarters of a million dollars _used_ at quick sale prices if she didn't miss her guess and probably over a mill sitting on a lot. She didn't want to know what it cost brand new. Not that she knew a lot about RV's anyway. Jane had given her a crash course when they were selecting his Airstream and that brand just happened to be among them. In fact, she knew some of the drivers on the racing circuit owned those coaches which was why she knew an approximate cost for the one she was looking at now. A well known driver had had his coach up for sale and it was very similar to this one. She and Jane had looked it up on the internet.

"Probably." Jane agreed. "We've never really discussed it. He had enough to buy that monster straight off the lot and maintain it for a couple of years so I'd say he's comfortable."

"At the least." Lisbon said. "So, how much to buy in?"

"Don't worry about it." Jane said. "That's already taken care of so the boys know you're coming which puts you at a bit of a disadvantage. They've had a few days to contemplate every possible strategy which you haven't had. However, you're Lisbon so I have every confidence you'll be able to beat a few hicks from the sticks."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Lisbon rolled her eyes at Jane's usual eloquence. "Do they know you call them that?"

"Oh, yeah." Jane said. "And I'm the con and the carney. You'll be the cute little thing or Honey Bun or something equally derogatory so get ready for it. It wouldn't be wise to pull out your gun and shoot them. Things could get rather messy if you do."

"Would I do that?" Lisbon asked sweetly already mentally going through the motions of doing just that even if her fantasies would never come to fruition.

"Oh, yeah." Jane said placing his hand on the small of her back. "You would about the time Henry gets on your last nerve. But, don't, it's just his way of breaking your concentration."

"Right." Lisbon said. "Like that's happening in the middle of a Poker game. I don't think so."

"I never said it would." Jane agreed. "I just wanted to give you the heads up the guys can play dirty when the mood strikes."

"So can I." Lisbon said in a dangerous voice. "I learned a lot playing with Bertram and his cronies." Ones whose names were probably on that nefarious list they had yet to unscramble. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up."

"Why not?" Jane asked. "We all know some if not all of those people are on that list. We just have to get the proof."

"Yeah, I guess we do." Lisbon said still not wanting to think about it. "I can't believe I sat across the table from the very people who were destroying the CBI from the inside out."

"I can." Jane said softly before knocking on the door. "We knew something was off, just not how high it went."

"I guess we did." Lisbon confirmed. "I never wanted to believe the nightmare was possible."

"Neither did I." Jane agreed speaking to the man who opened the door. "Hey, Ben, long time no see."

Allowing herself to be guided through the door, Lisbon took in the sea of faces staring back at her. Somewhere in the background she heard the door closing behind them and heard the crinkle of plastic as their offering of chips and dip was taken from Jane's hand. Blinking like she'd just emerged from the other side of the rabbit's hole; Lisbon became aware of Jane's hand resting possessively against her waist about the time she decided she could almost smell the testosterone flitting through the room. Even if she couldn't, she could see her escort's reaction to it.

Jane was sending out very clear signals to keep away. As subtle as he was, she couldn't ignore it. She'd worked in the midst of men for too many years to not recognize the signs. Not to mention having three brothers all younger than her. As a result, she'd lived through more than her fair share of pissing contests. She didn't need another one tonight even if it seemed to be exactly what she was getting. Resisting the urge to smack Jane a good one, Lisbon let him remove their jackets and drape them over the dinette bench instead.

"So this is the pretty little thing you said you were bringing?" Ben opened the dip and dumped the tortilla chips in a bowl before adding both to the overflowing snack table. "The lady cop?"

"Teresa Lisbon, former cop, CBI Senior Agent, and Police Chief of Podunk, USA." Jane corrected as he motioned Lisbon towards one of the three vacant seats. "She traded it all in to become a card carrying Fed so I'd say, yes, the pretty little thing is still a lady cop."

From the flair in her eyes, the pretty little thing was about to whip the tar out of one Patrick Jane.

"You don't say?" Ben observed quickly diffusing the situation before sliding into his chair while he watched Jane helping Lisbon off with her jacket. "Interesting."

Slipping onto the couch by Jane, Lisbon took in Ben's appearance with a hint of amusement. While she'd met some characters in her brief time in Texas, she'd yet to get this up close and personal with one who so avidly lived up to that almost comedic stereotypical description from the top of his genuine cowboy hat to the beady eyed armadillo belt buckle to the heels of his very expensive leather cowboy boots. What made it even funnier, there wasn't a person on the face of the earth who'd ever mistake Ben for a native Texan. Not with that Northern accent. He clearly was not. But, he'd embraced the idea of being an adopted son whole heartedly. Goofy dressing habits aside, he was a rather handsome man a little older than Jane if one went for the rustic, fair haired outdoor type.

Unfortunately for the gleam of appreciation in his eyes, she really dug the pretty boy, moody, pain in her ass, genius type sitting beside her. Or, she had for the past few years.

"Since you know Ben, let me introduce the rest of the gang." Jane watched Ben's shuffle just to make sure there wasn't any funny stuff. "The carrot top over there is Auger, he's into commodities whatever that means." Lisbon answered the nice looking redhead's finger wave with one of her own. "Henry over there retired from the Coast Guard a few years ago, Cheyenne owns two, no three, upscale bars around town, and Jamie is just a punk kid living off his Daddy's bankroll. Who knows, maybe he'll grow up one day; but, I'm not holding my breath on that one."

The attractive "kid" who was all of thirty-five if he was a day, surprisingly took Jane's inflammatory jibing with nothing more sinister than a cocky grin and a casually flipped gesture that said it all. Jane being Jane smiled back good naturedly knowing he deserved an appointment in a dark alley at the crack of dawn. But, it was all in fun. They all took pot shots at each other in the hopes of breaking the other's concentration because, to tell the truth of the matter, they were pretty evenly matched in the sneaky cheat department. That was why it was so fun to play each other.

Contrary to popular believe, Jane didn't always win the day.

As for the older, gray haired gentleman, it was easy to believe he'd been in the military given his bearing. The striking dark haired man giving her the too friendly once over was at least a quarter Native American if not more so his nickname was fitting. Not full blooded, but certainly enough to have a very distinctive appearance that showed well in room full of people. He was also used to using his looks as a potent weapon.

Well, it wasn't working on her.

Lifting her cards, Lisbon surreptitiously glanced around the table watching each of her adversaries. Jane hadn't been lying when he'd said the boys had betraying tells. It was taking her all of two minutes into the first hand to spot them all. Well, all except Jane's. She didn't expect to see his anytime soon; but, she'd figure him out before she was done. She might even win a hand or two before the game was over.

Catching Jane's eye, Lisbon smirked back with far more confidence than she was feeling. She doubted she'd last until the end of the evening. Unlike Jane, she stuck to her rules. When she got anywhere near $100 worth of losses, she was calling it a day even if Jane continued to play. Since it wasn't a high stakes game, she should be able to last a few hands before throwing the towel in. She hoped so.

This whole situation looked like fun.

#

"You did well, Lisbon." Jane said as he locked the door behind them.

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" Lisbon agreed. "I made a lot more than I expected."

"Since you cleaned house, I'd say so." Jane indulged her. "However, I do have a problem with the fact you bowed out before I had a chance to win my money back."

"Hey, I did exactly what I said I was going to do." Lisbon reminded him. "I'd lost over a hundred dollars so I called it a night."

"Yeah, but you won the pot." Jane reminded her. "There must have been a good two grand in there."

"Doesn't matter." Lisbon said. "I stick to my rules. Besides, you guys didn't play but one more hand and you won so stop your grousing."

"Ben said you can play with us any time you'd like." Jane extended the invitation. "The guys really like you."

"I like them." Lisbon agreed. "Just let me know when."

"I'll do that." Jane hung her jacket in the closet before walking back to stand much too close to her. "You smell nice tonight."

"I smell nice tonight?" Lisbon stepped back to give him a strange look. "What brought that on? I smell like I always do. Same scent I've been wearing for years."

Cinnamon and spice, there was nothing new there.

"I've always thought you smelled nice." Jane admitted.

"Just a little nicer tonight?" Lisbon shook her head at how ridiculous he was being. "How can I smell better tonight when I smell the same? That doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't have to." Jane said. "Just know that you do."

Probably largely because he'd spent the past several hours watching other men stare at _his _Lisbon when they thought neither of them was looking. That was part of the reason she'd won tonight. He couldn't keep his mind on the game. Oh, and she'd not only smelled nice, she'd been particularly pretty staring at her cards with those big emerald eyes and the tip of her tongue sticking out in extreme concentration.

No, she'd been quite lovely in that perky, alert, bright eyed, rabbit on a sugar rush, Lisbony way he so rarely but hoped to see more.

"Whatever." Lisbon said. "You're in a mood tonight."

"I suppose I am." He _was_ in a mood and he was going to act on it.

Leaning forward Jane gave Lisbon a toe curling kiss that, regrettably, didn't last nearly long enough.

"Have you lost your mind?" She asked.

"Hardly." Jane responded. "I've been waiting for the right moment to make my move."

"And you think that moment's now?" Lisbon asked. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing." Jane said. "Has the thought crossed your mind I might have wanted to do that for a while now?"

"I can't say that it has." Lisbon answered semi-honestly knowing it wasn't so much that the thought hadn't crossed her mind as it was she'd refused to allow it to.

"Has the thought crossed your mind you've wanted me to do it for nearly as long?" Jane continued as though she hadn't said a thing.

"Nope." Lisbon was lying through her teeth and they both knew it. "I can't say that either."

"Liar." Jane called her on it. "You might be able to lie to yourself; but, you're not lying to me."

"What I'm not doing is playing little Jane games." Lisbon corrected him. "We've been doing it for years and I don't want to play anymore.

And truthfully, I didn't expect you to jump me as soon as we walked through the door. You've never done that before."

That wasn't exactly true either. He had done similar though not exactly the same. It honestly wasn't like Jane had never kissed her before. Not if you counted on the forehead or on the cheek and that rare, meaningless peck near the lips in times of danger. It was more that he'd never kissed her like _that_…with obvious intent.

"Neither did I." Jane said. "But, I'd like to do it again."

Blinking at him, Lisbon didn't have time to say yeah or nay when he stepped forth to press his lips against hers. Having a what the hell moment, she decided to enjoy it in ways she hadn't the first time around. It _had_ been a long time since a man had touched her much less given her such a passionate kiss. It certainly didn't hurt that man was Jane. Wrapping her hands around his neck, Lisbon rose on her toes to press into a very enjoyable moment she hoped wouldn't end before she was ready.

Breaking their kiss a few moments later, Lisbon decided Jane had the most beautiful eyes. He truly did. That was particularly true when they were stormy and befuddled like they were now. It was a look she hadn't seen often and she found great comfort in the fact Jane could be as confused as she was.

He should be.

He'd just kissed her like there was no tomorrow with the evidence of his other life still in plain sight. Something about that just wasn't right. Or, maybe, it just didn't sit right with her. She knew plenty of women who honestly wouldn't care. But, she did. Seeing that ring made her feel like maybe Jane was considering having his cake and eating it too. That wasn't happening. Not with her. While she'd never ask him to forget Angela and Charlotte Anne; they weren't stepping into a future while he still clung stubbornly to his past.

It wouldn't be fair to either of them and she wasn't going there.

"Call me when you're ready to take this off." Lisbon lightly rubbed the ring on his finger. "We'll talk. Until that happens, this is as far as it goes." Pensively gazing into his eyes, she rose on her tiptoes infusing all the longing in her soul into one last gentle kiss. "I'm going to bed now. We need to rest while we can. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

As though the case at hand weren't enough, they were on call for the new cases coming into the Bureau and come in they would…More than one…She was sure of it and she was never wrong. Not with that fringe of darkness licking at the periphery of her consciousness. She knew the feeling well. It was one seasoned cops knew well.

To sum things up, she'd say _foreboding_ hung in the air.

"I suppose it will." Jane agreed with her seemingly random observation.

He knew better. When Lisbon made a statement like that, he'd take it to the bank. That sixth sense dedicated cops developed after years of service was firing off and she was rarely wrong. If he had to guess, he'd say they _would_ be busy tomorrow. Very busy and it wouldn't be pretty. He was sure of it.

"Sleep well, Lisbon. I would offer to let you share my bed, quite innocently of course: but, I doubt you'd take me up on ir." Jane tossed the offer out there anyway.

"You'd be right." Lisbon agreed. "Nice try though. The puppy dog eyes are a nice touch. They might work on some things; but, not this. That's so not happening any time soon. Now, get out of here and let me sleep."

Hearing that firm note in her tone, Jane knew there was no reason to push any further. Lisbon wisely wouldn't give in. But, he would.

"I can do that." Jane stepped back to gaze into Lisbon's eyes before glancing briefly at the ring on his finger clearly deep in thought. "Sleep well, My Dear."

"You, too." Lisbon resisted the urge to reconsider.

Turning, Jane headed in the direction of the bathroom knowing he had a few minutes to indulge in his nightly ablutions before Lisbon needed the room.

Watching his retreat towards the back of the trailer, Lisbon removed her bedding from the storage bins under the dinette seat. Lowering the table and pulling the bench pillows in place, she made her bed with practiced ease before hurriedly changing into her warmer pajamas while Jane was otherwise occupied. She wouldn't put it past him to try to sneak a peek.

"All done." Jane said as he strolled into the room to steal one last kiss. "Sure you won't reconsider my offer?"

"Positive." Lisbon said what he expected to hear. "Not with the way we were kissing each other. The cuddling wouldn't stay innocent for long."

There was no reason not to state what they both knew.

"Would that be a bad thing?" Jane asked honestly. "While not my intent, I should hardly think being intimate would be the end of the world for either of us."

"Not the end of the world, no; but, not a smart move either." Lisbon corrected him. "Things are heating up too fast and I don't want us to be just another roll in the hay. I hope you feel the same."

"You would never be just another roll in the hay." Jane agreed.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Lisbon's eyes rolled towards his ring. "But, we both know I can't compete with that." She said quietly. "I'm not willing to try."

Knowing she was right, Jane gave a slight nod before dropping a chaste kiss on her head.

"We'll revisit this." Jane said quietly. "Don't think we won't."

"I know." Lisbon agreed. "Maybe we'll both be ready when we do."

It wasn't necessary to say neither of them was at the moment. Jane still had family issues to resolve and she had issues of her own. Like her failsafe habit of bailing on a relationship before she got in too deep. That wasn't what she wanted with Jane. She wanted to give them a real, fighting chance. She couldn't do that right now.

"Maybe we will." Jane agreed. "Sleep well, Lisbon."

Watching him head for his bed, Lisbon briefly wished things were different before she crawled onto her mattress and settled comfortably under her blankets. Closing her eyes, she contemplated the situation unfolding between them. It wasn't that she was against the idea of drifting into something _more_ with Jane. She wasn't. Not really. It would be different she was sure; but, not necessarily in a bad way. For all of his untamable zaniness, she genuinely _liked_ him for goodness' sake…more than liked him…and she was strongly attracted to him. She had been for years. But, she wasn't a fool and she wasn't asking for trouble. Not the kind coming with getting romantically entangled with Jane.

Not the kind that ended with a shattered heart.

If she thought Bertram, MacAllister, and the demise of the CBI had wreaked havoc on her life, she hadn't seen anything yet. Not where Jane was concerned. If she'd learned one lesson and learned it well over the years of their acquaintance, it was that looks were very deceiving…Especially Jane's placid demeanor…He was anything but the indolent image he projected. She'd learned that the hard way and she wouldn't make the same mistakes their quarry did.

She'd never underestimate Jane or his affect on her equilibrium.

She was far too wise to fall into such a trap even if she was loathed to admit what he'd proven over and over again. That, for her there was nothing more dangerous than tangling with Jane. She'd have given up and left him a long time ago if that weren't true. She'd never have worked so zealously to save him from himself. She sure as hell wouldn't be working for the Feds or still trying to keep his rear out of the frying pan. She'd have kept her old PC job. The pay was better and the hours less. She could have died of boredom for a few years. It wasn't like a decent retirement was that far away.

That wasn't what she'd done.

As much as she hated to admit it, Jane had crooked his little finger and she'd come running. However, that was a two way street. He'd refused to work without her, so technically, the FBI had come running. All she'd done was take them up on their offer which she'd gladly done. Though she'd deny it, she'd had no other choice. She'd been slowly dying and withering away. She missed working with Jane and the unique challenges he'd presented. More than that, she'd missed her friend terribly.

Snuggling down in her bed, Lisbon accepted the ugly truth there was no sense fighting.

Somewhere along the way, her Mentalist had become a guilty addiction she had no intention of breaking.

#

Hopefully, I've gotten the left out words and most blatant typos fixed. Maybe even some of the grammaticals and awkwards sentences with this fifteenth look through on 01/11/13. However, it's not property edited by a long shot; but, this is about as good as we're going to get for fanfic. Thank you for reading in spite of me! :) ~Calla


	8. Sorry!

Unfortunately, this isn't an update. Just a quick note to thank everyone for the reviews I haven't responded to yet. I'm currently getting over a bout with the flu so I have neither been working on Chapter 8 (it's about 1/4 done) nor responding to any reviews that have come in since last Friday. I apologize for the delay; but, it's going to be a while longer on both. Yesterday was my first day back at work since Saturday when I suddenly came down with a 102-103 degree fever and realized something was wrong. Thank you for hanging in a little longer! You're greatly appreciated! ~Calla


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and the well wishes on my bout of flu! I've been back at work for a good week; but, that whole residual no energy thing is still kicking my butt! Please forgive me for not answering that last round of reviews and well wishes individually as I prefer! There just isn't enough of me left over at the end of the day! I'll get back on track with this chapter, I promise. ~Calla

#

Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, Lisbon put the last of the bed clothes away beneath the seat. She'd had a good night's sleep as she usually did at Jane's place. Now it was time to start her day all over again. The game plan was simple. She was having breakfast with her partner; then, she was swinging by her place to bathe and change. Since she'd been camping out in a sardine can for the better part of a week, it was past time she made sure _her_ home was still in one piece. She also needed to refresh her go bag, check her mail, and get her ducks in a row for the rest of the week.

Leaning against the galley counter, Lisbon wondered briefly what was taking Jane so bloody long to get dressed before ruminating over the fact they'd finally made some headway on their serial killer case. If, and only if, you counted breaking the encryption on one of the flash drives as making headway. _They'd_ broken it, not Grace, thanks to one of those mystical programs Jane had hidden on his computer. Yes, _hidden_, and hidden well. In all the years she'd known him, she'd never realized the man was as adept at computers as he was. With hindsight, she realized he was almost as good as Van Pelt. Maybe a little better when it came to the truly underhanded, quasi-legal, and clearly questionable side of things. What else was new?

He was forever revealing depths she didn't know he had.

Unfortunately, as pleased as she was they'd made headway, the drive they'd cracked wasn't the one suddenly answering all of their questions. In fact, it didn't answer anything beyond revealing the data on that particular flash drive. Data that might as well be alien communications from outer space as far as she was concerned; but, in reality, were seemingly random, highly complex scientific formulas signifying God only knew what. They wouldn't be finding that out any time soon unless they found someone highly secretive and unusually trustworthy within the scientific community to take a look at what they'd found. Jane wasn't quite ready to risk that as it would likely reveal to the FBI exactly what they'd been up to in private.

Saying Abbott wouldn't be pleased when that happened was an understatement.

Maybe one of the other drives would hold the secret key they needed. They wouldn't know until they decoded the hidden information on _all_ those bits of brightly colored metal and plastic. Unfortunately, whoever had created those flash drives had been smart enough to use a different encryption on each one which was great for them. Not so much for her and Jane. It meant they had to go through the whole pokey process of running several more flash drives through those programs and hoping for the best. Sometimes life was a, well, a real you-know-what. Today was one of those times.

Lisbon shook her head deciding she might as well be grateful for small blessings instead of holding a pity party. It could be the same as with Bertram's disk. They could not have gotten anywhere. That wouldn't be all that surprising. Fortunately, it also wasn't the case. Oh, and while she was trying to look on the brighter side of things, she might as well be grateful Jane hadn't chosen to revisit that whole awkward conversation concerning them. He'd left well enough alone and life was moving right along with them conveniently ignoring the elephant in the room. Something they both excelled at doing. Ignoring "inconveniences" as though they didn't exist worked well for them. They'd been doing it for years.

Anyways, once she bathed, changed, and repacked her go bag at home, she was driving into work like nothing had changed. As far as she was concerned, it hadn't. She doubted her MO would be any different from what she'd done a thousand times over the years. Once she made it past Security, she'd fetch Jane from his office. They'd meet up with Cho in his office a few minutes later and start their day. If everything went as expected, Fischer would eventually appear to add her two cents worth as she usually did. Not that she minded Kim's presence.

All in all she got along well with the agent. Even if the other woman had yet to truly "get" Jane. Lisbon rolled her eyes at the thought the Feds were slower on the uptake than she expected. By this time in her journey with her Mentalist, she'd at least had an inkling her "Consultant" was bigger than she was and the direct approach wasn't the best for handling him. She couldn't say the same for her new employers. They weren't getting with the program as fast as she thought they should.

Fortunately, that wasn't her problem. She'd done her best to aid them along. So had Cho. It wasn't their fault the Feds listened about as well as they handled Jane.

Hearing a familiar, but unexpected, scratching at the door, Lisbon stepped away from the counter lost in thought. Everyone believed they were having a quiet day at the office. That they'd be studying murder boards and busily trying to figure out where their female serial killer might strike next. Good luck with that one. She suspected anything but a peaceful day and she'd infected Jane with her expectations.

He was now as tightly wound as she was eagerly anticipating what was to come. Maybe another grisly murder thanks to "Sadie" as they'd nicknamed their present quarry thanks to her sadistic kills. Or, maybe it would be something equally disturbing suddenly bursting from left field. That wouldn't be totally unexpected. Not with the way things were going. In spite of Jane's barely contained excitement, he was remaining on point in every way. Namely the ones concerned with her.

"Hey, Sleepyhead, you finally decided to wake up." Jane said as he stepped inside the trailer bag in hand. "You were drooling away when I left."

"I thought you were back there getting ready." Lisbon nodded in the direction of the back bedroom somewhat disappointed she'd made such a dangerous mistake. If she hadn't been so distracted by her thoughts, she'd have realized the place was much too quiet for Jane to be anywhere near. The man was surprisingly noisy at times. "My mistake. It looks like you went to Lucca's instead."

Leave it to Jane to pick an RV park with a nicely sized General Store complete with country restaurant.

"Yes, I did." Jane agreed. "Who wants to cook when you can get these?" He motioned to the bag he was still holding in his hands.

"What did you get this time?" Lisbon fixed him a look saying she knew without asking. "Greasy sausage gravy and biscuits, greasy sausage dogs, greasy breakfast burritos or a greasy combination of all of the above?"

"What do you think?" Jane asked as he sat the large white bag on the counter. "I think you already know."

"All of the above." Lisbon said as she watched Jane removing white containers from the bag. "You better have my favorite."

"What do you think?" Jane reached in the cabinet for a plate before opening a good sized styrofoam container. "One biscuits and gravy coming right up although I'd hardly call them greasy."

Lisbon shot him a look conveying they most certainly were decadently rich and greasy. But, they were also lip smacking delicious as well. Enough said. Turning back to the counter, she continued making her first cup of coffee with all the gusto of the severely caffeine deprived. Taking a calming sip, she watched Jane put the finishing touches on her breakfast as though he'd actually made it instead of dumped the contents from a container. Grabbing her plate, she didn't need to watch Jane plop a sausage dog on his plate to know he would be joining her soon. The package of breakfast burritos remaining in the bag would go into plastic wrap in the freezer before he left for the office to be devoured some other day. If she was lucky, she'd be here when that happened. Those burritos were nothing to sneeze at.

"I need to leave in about twenty minutes." Lisbon glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. "I'll be in the office by eight thirty. It'll take me about an hour and a half to get to my place, get ready, and drive in. Think you can stay out of trouble until I get there?"

"It shouldn't be too hard." Jane said around a hearty bite of sausage dog. "The place won't start hopping before nine. Oh, Lucca sent his regards."

"Lucca sent his regards?" Lisbon smirked around her coffee. "Lucca said tell that cute little brunette sniffing around your place, "Hi.". I know what Lucca said."

"Yes, well, he is a little rough around the edges." Jane agreed. "So, yeah, I guess it did go down more like you said."

"Tell Lucca I said right back at him next time you see him." Lisbon laughed out loud picturing the crusty ex-naval officer turned RV park store and restaurant owner. He was all of sixty five if he was a day and every bit as raw as Jane intimated; but, she liked him. He reminded her of any number of cops she'd worked with over the years. "He reminds me a little bit of Minelli."

"I'll tell him that." Jane wiped his hands on his napkin before taking another sip of tea. "I guess he does at that. Saltier, but similar."

"He does." Lisbon rose to her feet to quickly wash her dishes and eating utensils. "I need to get a move on or I'm going to be late. I'll see you at the office."

"I'll be there." Jane watched her slide into her leather jacket and grab her purse. "You need help with your Go Bag?"

"I have it." Lisbon walked out the door suitcase in hand. "Later."

"Later." Jane watched the door close as he carried his plate to the sink.

Turning the lock, he contemplated pulling his computer out. Maybe that wasn't a bad idea. If he hurried, he could put in an hour of work on that encrypted drive before he headed into the office. With a little luck he might actually get somewhere.

#

Glancing beneath his lashes, Jane studied Lisbon as she absently forked a bite of Moussaka to her lips. He was mildly surprised that she was so calmly devouring her sampler platter after the grisly day they'd had. He could say the same for himself. He supposed flying across several states and working a murder made one hungry. No, that wasn't right either. Not having eaten since breakfast while putting in a full day's work was probably the true reason they were both tucking into their meals like there was no tomorrow.

Famishment aside, they were both taken aback by this latest turn of events. While neither of them had expected The Blake Association to fade into the woodwork never to be heard from again, they'd not expected such an overt resurrection of their nemesis either. It was rather unsettling to suddenly learn there was a "Hit List" out there with them near the top. Yet, it was hard to draw any other conclusion with the encrypted files Grace found on Ardiles' phone. That was without considering Rigsby's gory contribution to the mix. From what Jane had seen Wayne was quite disturbed by happening upon his old acquaintance. Not that he blamed him. Ardiles' tormented body was a sight to behold.

Added to that, they were clearly of great interest to parties unknown and that was never a good thing.

While he couldn't prove anything at this point, Jane decided it was probably the very bastards whose identities remained safely hidden on Bertram's disk who were wreaking all the havoc. Unfortunately, _they_ didn't know they were safe at the moment. Truthfully, that was probably the information they'd been trying to extract from Ardiles. Everything he knew about the illusive disc Jane doubted the poor man even knew existed. Sadly, by contacting Lisbon with his suspicions, he'd made it look otherwise to bad guys none of them knew were out there.

He'd also sealed his fate.

Seriously, for all Jane knew, the creeps had gone after the disc soon after Bertram's demise. Maybe even before. He'd probably made sure they knew he had protection in place in case anything happened to him and exactly what form that protection was taking. That was standard bad guy behavior especially when said bad guy didn't trust the rest of his cohorts as far as he could throw them. The big secret for everyone wasn't so much that he had insurance; but, where he was actually hiding the tell-all list.

However, it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to realize Bertram most likely hid his treasure somewhere at his place. Hiding it in strange lockers at train stations and gyms never really worked out well even on television shows. It was far better to keep his salvation close at hand. Jane knew darned well if he'd figured out how Bertram's mind worked, his fellow Association members had as well. They'd probably broken in a few months after his death once the heat died down only to find the disc already missing. It had probably taken a few more months of carefully nosing around to realize no one in law enforcement had it. So, apparently they'd decided to wait quietly in the shadows until the true culprit decided to show his hand.

Like it or not, that was exactly what he'd eventually done when he'd brought that list into play with Abbott.

Shaking his head, Jane acknowledged that while things hadn't ended well for him, Bertram had been one hell of a formidable player who hadn't left many stones unturned. Unfortunately, the one or two he had cost him his life. Or, perhaps, his overinflated opinion of himself and his abilities was his downfall. Jane wasn't sure. As for the lurkers in the shadows, they had to know by now that _he _was the one who'd stolen Bertram's "insurance policy" and precisely what that policy was. Or, better yet, that he'd traded the encrypted list to the FBI. Jane had no doubts any of his secrets were still secret. Abbott was probably unwittingly revealing his every move to the very people he should be shielding them from. Not that he had a whole lot of choice.

Jane would bet a number of names on that infamous disc were among his superiors if not all of them.

Closing his eyes, Jane silently gave Lisbon kudos for being right yet again. He didn't know how she did it. That super cop spidey sense he supposed. She'd been exactly right. Their day had gone in the crapper early starting with a nasty call from the SFPD. The one saying Osvaldo's consult with the Rigsby's hadn't gone well at all. It had been quite lethal in fact. Visibly shaken at the loss of yet another companion from the old days, they'd been on a plane bound for San Francisco before they'd known what hit them. A few hours later, they'd been looking at what was left of Osvaldo Ardiles' bloody form. Red John had nothing on whoever had taken him out. Ardiles had clearly suffered terribly before revealing what little he knew. All in all, they'd had a lousy day all the way around.

Glancing at his Spanakapita, Jane contemplated his next move. To one way of thinking, this latest move of The Blake Association necessitated moving up the timeline in his head. To another, it didn't change a thing. He wasn't sure which assessment was right.

Playing with his food, Jane decided he could continue eating without tasting a thing or he could just "do it" as the advertisement said. It might be easier on everyone, meaning him and Lisbon, if he got this over with. What was one more shock in a day like today? They'd roll with the punches like they always did.

Glancing at his watch, Jane decided they still had a little while before they had to join Cho and Fischer in the hotel bar to discuss Ardiles' murder. They'd gone their separate ways over dinner promising to meet up at nine. Although they'd extended a half-hearted invitation to the rest of the team, their cohorts had chosen to join Abbott in the hotel restaurant while they'd snuck away to a Taverna Van Pelt recommended. Personally, Jane thought there'd been entirely too much togetherness since they'd arrived at HQ first thing this morning. He and Lisbon needed a break to discuss case related matters the FBI knew nothing about as well as more personal matters. That wasn't happening unless they made a break for it which they'd done.

Steeling his nerves, Jane suddenly splatted his palm flat on the table. Looking deeply into Lisbon's eyes, he spoke the words she least expected to hear especially in light of the day they'd just spent.

"Lisbon, it's time." Jane wiggled his finger slightly. "I think I'm ready."

"Oh, Brother." Staring at the now wiggling finger, Lisbon rolled her eyes at him choosing not to play dumb even knowing that would be the easiest recourse for both of them. "Seriously, Jane? You want to start some kind of silly personal crap you don't really mean after the nasty day we've had?"

"I'm not starting anything." He said quietly. "I'm asking you to pull my ring off."

"You're asking me to pull your ring off?" Lisbon's look openly questioned his sanity as she parroted his words back at him. "You don't mean it."

"Yes, I do." Jane clarified. "I wouldn't have asked you to do it if I didn't."

"I'm not so sure." Lisbon's tone said she knew he'd lost his mind now. "I don't think you mean it." She said yet again. "I really don't. I just think you're overreacting to everything that happened today."

"Why would you think I don't mean it?" Jane asked. "This isn't the first time I've dealt with The Blake Association. I'm hardly going to overreact. We'll just beat them like we did the first time around."

"Because it's been thirteen years since you lost them." Lisbon gently reminded him ignoring the rest of Jane's comment. "And you've never even thought about taking that ring off."

"Of course I have." Jane said. "More than once. Lisbon, I wouldn't have asked you to do this if I didn't mean it."

"Well, I'm not doing it." Lisbon huffed at him. "I am so not doing that."

"Why not?" Jane asked. "I asked you to."

"Because it's crazy." Lisbon observed. "Really crazy. You're overreacting to everything that's happened today. To this sudden reappearance of The Blake Association. To the encrypted files Grace found on Osvaldo's phone. To his death. We both are. I don't care what you say about having done all of this before. We both know there's no guarantee we'll win this time around. There never is."

"It's not crazy." No crazier than him removing his ring on the island and putting it back on a few hours later. Fischer had made him think about matters he'd conveniently avoided for years and he'd responded to those thoughts with the best of intent. He'd just not been ready to stick to his guns. It hadn't taken that long to figure out. "And I'm not overreacting to anything as I've already said. It's time. Maybe today made me realize that. Besides, you wanted me to remove my wedding band and I think I'm ready. Let's give it a shot and see what happens."

"You're serious?" Lisbon shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe it."

"You might as well." Jane said. "This isn't the first time I've removed my ring."

"It isn't?" Lisbon resisted the urge to ask when he'd done such a thing.

It was none of her business.

"No." Jane confirmed. "It is the first time I've meant to take it off and leave it."

Not knowing what to say to that bombshell, Lisbon allowed his last remark to pass without comment. Looking into Jane's guarded eyes Lisbon decided he'd officially lost his mind. Ardiles' murder had finished the job of whacking him crackers. But, it shouldn't have. It wasn't like the revenant of The Blake Association finally rearing its ugly head like a python hiding in the grass was all that unexpected. She'd been waiting for that phantasm to rise from the ashes since the fateful day Jane choked the life out of MacAllister a lifetime ago. It was too much to hope the nightmare would end with Red John's death and the demise of the CBI. If she'd known better, Jane had to as well. Their lives were never that simple. They wouldn't be theirs if they were.

Besides, an encrypted disc most likely bearing the names of the rich and powerful floating in the breeze made it painfully clear that fading away wasn't a probable ending as nothing else could.

"You're nuts, you know that?" Lisbon stated firmly as she absently chewed her bottom lip in that familiar, panicked way. "I never know what you're up to even after all these years."

"Neither do I." Jane agreed. "Just do as I ask and stop trying to understand what I don't fully understand myself." He wiggled his finger at her. "I assure you I'm far from nuts. I never have been. I doubt I ever will be. I'm ready to take this ring off and I want you to do it."

"If you say so." She clearly didn't believe him.

"I do and I'm not." Jane wiggled his finger yet again in silent invitation. "And that wasn't a very nice thing to say."

"I guess it wasn't; but, it's still true." Lisbon glared at the appendage wiggling in her direction. "You definitely have your nut job moments."

Briefly hesitating, she reached out to seize the gold band.

Gazing into his eyes, she slowly pulled the ring from Jane's finger without a downward glance. Seeing no real change in his expression, she dropped the metal circle in his open hand and watched his fingers automatically close in a protective fist before Jane broke their gaze to drop the ring in his pocket. No doubt he would return it to safekeeping in a more private moment. Some voyeuristic part of her wanted to be around when he did it. But, the more decent part of her knew that final goodbye was never meant to be shared.

Not with anyone, especially not her.

"This is ridiculous." Lisbon's sharp tone broke the heavy moment. "You're insane if you think we're jumping into anything because your ring finger's bare. It's not happening."

"I don't think any such thing." Jane agreed. "I wouldn't want that anyway."

"Right." Lisbon fixed him with a glare saying she knew better. "You're a man."

Which had no bearing on the situation at hand and she knew it. She'd wanted to jump him a few times over the years when they were both vulnerable. She'd wisely done nothing deciding loneliness was something she could handle. Losing Jane wasn't.

"I won't deny that; but, I'm not trying to get in your pants at the present although I make no promises for the not too distant future." Jane smirked slightly knowing Lisbon wanted to smack him for his irreverence. "Humor me, Teresa. All I'm asking is permission to spend time you. Maybe steal a kiss or two. See if it comes to anything more."

"We already spend time together." Lisbon reminded him. "Lots of time."

Probably too much time if they were honest.

"Yes, we do; but, that's not what I mean and you know it." It was Jane's turn to snort at her. "I'm asking permission to court you."

"Court me?" Lisbon smirked at the absurdity of his words. "Who courts anyone today?"

"Me." Jane said quietly knowing Lisbon's rudeness had more to do with shock than mocking his more antiquated ways. "It's a lot more genteel than your Mashburne encounter."

"We're not discussing that now or ever." Lisbon reminded him knowing some part of him was still smarting irrationally over how that all went down. Emotions aside, they had an unspoken rule between them. Two topics were off limits in their present world. Lorelei wasn't mentioned in a personal vein and neither was her pleasurable indiscretion with the charming billionaire. Things were just better that way. "Besides, it was a long time ago."

"Yes, it was." Jane agreed almost apologetically. "So, what do you say?"

"I don't know what to say." Lisbon said. "What if we don't work out? We'll still have to work together. That could get mighty awkward."

"Yes, we will; but, I don't think that'll be a problem." Jane reminded her. "When have we not worked out?"

"Plenty of times." Lisbon reminded him knowing she'd need more than the sum of her fingers and toes to count all the times she'd wished he'd fall off the face of the Earth. "Besides, how would we go about being an "us" anyway? Suddenly declare we're an item? I'm certainly not claiming you as my boyfriend."

As if she'd do anything so infantile. Did women her age even have boyfriends? She really didn't know. Everyone she knew had husbands or lovers. Or, even worse, Baby Daddy's. She so wasn't going there. Not that she'd ever call her…whatever…a lover in public. It was a little too in your face. On second thought, maybe "boyfriend" wasn't so bad after all.

No, Jane was more of a _whatever. _He really, really was. She was sure of it.

He'd been her whatever for years.

Besides, trying to apply normal, acceptable terminology to the man never boded well in the end. She'd seen people try to do that for years. They'd all failed abysmally. By his very nature, Patrick Jane was indefinable.

She'd learned that a long time ago.

"I don't think we have to declare anything since neither of us wants to broadcast our business to the world." Jane patted her hand. "We certainly don't have to declare anything to each other. At least nothing more than what we've already done. All you have to do is answer affirmatively and we'll be on our way. I seriously doubt much will change. We already spend every spare moment together either here or at your place anyway as you've already pointed out. As for the anything more, I've already kissed you and you've kissed back. I think that's a good place to start.

Maybe we'll progress to a little hand holding after a few dates once you decide skittish isn't the best way to be."

Jane looked at like her like his proposal was perfectly reasonable and he was just another man. She hated it when he did that. They both knew nothing could be farther from the truth. This was hardly a common situation and he was hardly just another man. Besides, she didn't do relationships. If anyone knew that, Jane did. She so didn't do relationships.

They never ended well.

"Hush." Lisbon groused perturbed she was giving serious thought to taking Jane for a romantic spin. The worse that would happen is she'd get her heart seriously broken for the first time in a whole lot of years. The best, they might actually make it. The upside, she wouldn't be alone anymore. The down, she wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse considering her significant other would be Patrick Jane. "If I'm skittish, it's with good reason. You're Jane."

"I suppose I deserve that." Jane agreed with her assessment. "It hasn't been the easiest past few years has it?"

"No, it hasn't." Lisbon agreed. "You haven't exactly given me a whole lot of reasons to trust you implicitly."

"No, I haven't." Jane agreed. "But, you do."

"Yeah, I do." Lisbon agreed. "I'm just not sure about the whole personal element thing. There's a big difference between trusting you on a case and trusting you with my heart."

"Yes, I guess there is." Jane said. "But, that's a two way street you know."

"I suppose it is." Lisbon said. "Fine, we'll give it a whirl; but, we're taking things slow. Just because that ring's in your pocket for now doesn't mean it's going to stay that way."

She knew him too well.

"I'll have to prove you wrong." Jane said quietly. "You know, you're at my place so much it's not likely I'll be sneaking it back on my finger anytime soon. You've made it perfectly clear the moment that happens, we're done."

"Yeah, I think we are." Lisbon agreed. "While I'd never ask you to give them up, I can't compete with your memories. I'm not willing to try."

"I'm not asking you to." Jane's tone was serious. "They're gone and you're here. It isn't the same thing. One chapter's closed and another is opening. Give me some credit for realizing that."

"I do." Lisbon was equally serious. "But that chapter isn't exactly closed either. They're still out there in case either of us have forgotten. They killed Osvaldo and they're probably after us. Not exactly what we need at the moment. It isn't like we don't already have a female whack job we need to be concentrating on."

"How could I forget any of that?" Jane asked. "However, I think we can handle everything that's going on as long as we work together."

"Yeah, I think so too." Lisbon agreed. "As long as you don't start going off doing crazy things like you did with Crystal. You can't cut me out of the loop and think things are going to run smoothly between us. I won't be in a relationship like that."

"I'll try to do better." Jane promised. "However, you need to remember work is work and personal is personal. The two don't always mix. There will be times I can't tell you what I'm up to beforehand. You know that."

"Yeah, well, try to keep those times to a minimum." Lisbon seriously informed him. "You know Fischer's going to notice that." She nodded in the direction of his nude ring finger. "You also know she's going to ask nosey questions."

"That doesn't mean you have to answer her." Jane reminded her. "Frankly, it's none of her business."

"I don't suppose I do." Lisbon agreed. "She already thinks there's something going on between us. She didn't fully accept my denial."

"Because you never fully denied it." Jane gently reminded her. "I don't suppose you could since it wasn't true. There's always been something between us even when there wasn't."

"You know that doesn't make any sense?" Lisbon said. "How can there be something between us when there wasn't?"

"The timing was off." Jane said. "We couldn't have acknowledged the truth if either of us had consciously known it was there. We didn't." Well, he did; but, he wasn't in any state to deal with it so he hadn't. "There was too much going on to see what was right in front of our faces."

"Whatever." Lisbon said. "I'm not going to try to figure that out now. It doesn't really matter anymore." Glancing at her watch, Lisbon motioned towards Jane's plate. "It's getting late. We need to finish here and hit the road. We have to meet Fisher and Cho in less than a half hour."

"I ordered your dessert to go." Jane quietly informed her as he raised his hand for their server to bring their bill and the necessary boxes. "We can get the rest of this packed to go as well. We have refrigerators and microwaves in the rooms so it won't be a problem."

"Sounds like a plan." Lisbon said. "I'll get the car while you settle up. If we leave in the next ten minutes, we should make it on time. I'll take the leftovers up to our rooms while you find the rest of the team. I'll meet up with all of you once I'm done."

"That works for me." Jane watched Lisbon shovel her leftovers into her To Go box while he did the same. Putting the boxes in the plastic bag, he handed it to Lisbon before reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Taking out his credit card and a few bills for the tip, Jane could almost see the sudden awkwardness between them. "It's going to be okay, Lisbon."

"I know." Lisbon agreed. "I'm going to get the car now."

"You do that." Jane said. "I'll meet you outside in a few minutes."

Watching her leave, he couldn't stop the smile on his face as he headed for the cashier. Lisbon really was a funny little thing. She always had been and she still was.

He didn't think that would ever change.

#

I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter; but, I'm glad it's written even if it is more filler than anything significant. Between losing momentum to the flu, the way they left the last new episode, and a couple of months of limbo with no show to feed me, I have very little to work with here! I guess it's time for the imagination to go into overdrive! It won't be the first time I've seriously deviated from the show and I guess it won't be the last! LOL. ~Calla


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